


Just Peachy

by heath_bar17



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, USWNT
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2018-11-01 07:11:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 50,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10916898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heath_bar17/pseuds/heath_bar17
Summary: Emily is just trying to survive her senior year in college at UVA which isn't easy when your family ditches you for Thanksgiving Break. Emily's friend Sam comes to the rescue by inviting her to Thanksgiving with her crazy family. A lot can happen over a short break...





	1. My Type

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I have never written a fan fiction and actually starting reading them only a month ago. Free style writing isn't really something I do often. I had one person quickly skim it early on so I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes! It's a bit short because I want to see if you guys think it's worth continuing!
> 
> **I changed some facts to make the story flow a little better**

“Emily. You can’t be so picky. Just pick a girl and start talking to her. Oh, oh! What about her with that spikey nose piercing! She has cool purple hair and is totally rocking that grunge rock vibe.” Sam nudged Emily to look at the women sipping on a beer while leaning against the bar. She tried not to make a face but was obviously unsuccessful based on the sigh Sam made. The girl noticed them watching and glanced their way, she didn’t think her athletic body and blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail was much the grunge-rocker’s type either.

“I know you have a thing for athletes…they get your struggle and schedule and all that but you should really expand your horizons. Not all of them can look like your crushes from the US team.”

Right about now, Emily was regretting the fact that she told Sam about her top crushes, all consisting of the national team players. It wasn’t that she didn’t like girls who didn’t play sports, it was just that girls who played soccer, in particular, understood her passion for it more than those that had never played. How else were they supposed to understand going to bed at 9, willing sitting in a tub full of freezing water, the utter pain and burning in your lungs from circuit workouts, among others?

“I know. I should have never told you about that last week. I said Kelley O’Hara and Tobin Heath were ‘my type’ not my standard. Plus, it’s not like I’ll ever meet them.” Emily shook her head.

“Oh please, we both know that you are a contender for the National Team, your coach even said you might get drafted so stop moping. And you should never say never…” Sam lectured on.

Emily and Sam debated her type for the next hour over two rounds of drinks. They were both lightweights. The beer made Emily’s tongue feeling slightly awkward in her mouth yet she ordered another because ‘why not’ it’s almost break? As Emily sipped her third beer, she started to wish she was able to go home over their Thanksgiving Break. Her parents decided they wanted to travel to Cancun at the spur the moment and her twin sister decided to go to her boyfriend’s in New York. Which left Emily sitting by herself two weeks ago, freaking out at the idea of ordering Grubhub to her apartment while binge watching Parks and Rec. Thankfully, Sam took pity on her and invited her along to her family’s Thanksgiving which was only a few hours away from the UVA campus.

“So when are we leaving again?”

“Seriously Em, do you ever pay attention?” Emily just shrugged but really she wanted a change of subject from her lack of love life. “We are leaving tomorrow morning after my 8am, that way we can just chill for the two days leading up to Thanksgiving.” Emily held in a groan at the thought of leaving before 10am but held it in. She was not a morning person.

“Okay, but I will need Starbucks on the way. And is there a soccer field nearby your Aunt’s house or at least a track?”

Sam rolled her eyes, “Always thinking about training. But yes, there is a local high school that has an open track and soccer field in the middle of it. I actually have a few cousins that are pretty active that might join in.” Emily did not want to sound conceded or cocky but she doubted any of her cousins were training at the level she was expected to, then again, she would gladly enjoy the company.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Emily rolled over in her bed when she heard some noise in her room. Her eyes were barely open when she found Sam standing there smiling.

“Shit balls! You scared me, why are you here? Why are you smiling?!” Emily groaned out.

“First, I would like to address the fact that you said ‘shit balls’ …seriously?! And second, my class got out early so I’m here to be the first thing you see in the morning!” Sam chirped out while leaning down to give Emily a kiss on the cheek.

She dramatically wiped away the spot where Sam kissed and rolled out of bed onto the floor continuing the over the top reaction.

“No. Carry on without me.” Emily’s words were muffled into the carpet, her face was pressed against.

“I brought coffee….”

“I’m up!” Emily sprung up a bit too fast, feeling light headed. Once she steadied herself, Emily grabbed the coffee she hadn’t noticed before when Sam first woke her up.

 

* * *

 

 

The time in the car went by much faster than Emily had thought it would. Both Sam and Emily felt a little more at ease knowing they had almost a week before they had to go back to campus and begin the preparation for finals.

“So I need to warn you that my family can be a bit much.” Sam looked over at Emily. Emily though back to Sam’s parents. She had met them before when they attended one of Emily’s games. Sam looked like the blend of her parents, with her mom’s strawberry blonde hair, her dad’s green eyes. She got the lean build and freckles from both of her parents. Sam caught the eye of most guys and some girls with her looks which was fine by her. Her family seemed super accepting and fun to be around, but having a household full of energetic Sam-like people might become a little exhausting. Still, she played it cool.

“And by that you mean…” Emily trailed.

“They can be friendly, which might get to be a bit much. Some are super into soccer though which might play in your favor. It’s easy to spot which of my family members compete in sports…” Sam hesitated. “But if you need short breaks from them, we’re sharing a room so you can always just go up there.”

Just then, Sam pulled into a neighborhood with large yards and large houses to compliment them. It was easy to spot which one they were about to pull into based on the amount of cars parked in half mile-long driveway. Sam’s family went all out for holidays, which meant they tended to make it an entire week of family time with all of Sam’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.

 

* * *

 

Only about ten minutes into it, Emily began to understand what Sam meant. Her aunts and uncles greeted her immediately with hugs and kisses along with plenty of questions. Emily knew she could manage, but needed a minute to step away and prepare herself.

Slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people, Emily decided to try to find the bathroom just to have a small break. After asking around, Sam’s aunt told her where the bathroom on the second floor of the house was so she didn’t have to wait. Emily kept her head down pretending to text on her phone in an attempt to not make eye contact with anyone so she wouldn’t have to strike up a conversation about why she was here and not with her own family for the holidays. In a daze, she trudged up the stairs and made a quick right down the hall, still keeping intense eye contact with her home screen on the phone. Just as she rounded the corner, she ran into someone that felt like pure muscle and her phone went flying to the ground.

“Sorry!” they both said and the girl in front of her went down to pick up her phone. Emily did not have a chance to look at her face but managed to glance at her lean figure. Stop checking out Sam’s family member she internally yelled at herself. As the women rose up to hand Emily her phone, she froze.

“Sorry about running into you. Here’s your phone. Oh! You must be Sam’s friend from college unless you are some super-secret family member…”

This is when you speak. Say something anything. Reach you hand out, dummy, grab your phone. Emily followed her internal instructions. Okay, now speak!

“Uh, thanks. That would be me. I’m Emily Sonnet.” Emily extend her hand, hoping she can’t see it shaking. Emily couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful freckled face and light brown eyes.

“Hi! I’m Kelley O’Hara, Sam’s cousin.”


	2. Deer Caught in the Headlights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has a lot of explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got excited after posting the first chapter and finished the second chapter this morning, it's a little short. I plan to post chapter 3 on Friday or Saturday! Sorry in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes :)

“Uh...it’s um, nice to meet you.” Emily choked out.

 

“Where are you off to?” Kelley smirked at the dumbfounded Emily. Kelley glanced down at their hands still locked in the handshake and raised an eyebrow. Emily let go of Kelley’s hand like she was electrocuted much to her company’s amusement. There was a sparkle in Kelley’s eye that Emily couldn’t quite pinpoint.

 

Suddenly Emily forgot that she was planning to escape to the bathroom. “I’m just wandering around?”

 

“You’re not sure if you are wandering around? I believe it is time to do some sort of family activity my aunt planned.” She smiled brightly at Emily while pointing her hand towards the stairs.

 

Emily and Kelley made their way down the stairs. Kelley continued to talk about what the family was going to do in the afternoon. Most of Emily’s focus was on trying not to fall down the stairs. It would seem after the surprise meeting her body forgot how to function, her tongue struggled to form words and her legs decided they would torment Emily with the possibility of giving out at any time. The idea of being star-struck always seems odd to Emily. The idea that someone is so much larger than life when you have never met them seemed a bit far-fetched. After all, the reason people were famous was just because they excelled at something that our society deemed important. Then again, she was a bit hypocritical based on the way she idolized the US Women’s soccer team.

 

_What girl soccer player didn’t idolize the 99ers?!_ Emily tried to rationalize her reaction. _That is obviously why my body is being all weird, I’m in front of an athletically superior individual…who is just a person. Just Sam’s cousin. Oh shit, she’s looking at you, Emily. What was she saying during my internal freak out?_

 

She did the only logical thing you can do in this type of situation, Emily nodded her head and managed to say, “Yeah, sounds good.”

 

“Great! Alright, our team will be unstoppable. I have a good feeling about you.” Kelley looked into Emily’s light blue eyes and Emily forgot how to breathe. “Do you want to go grab Sam or should I?”

 

“Actually I need to talk to her about something, so I’ll go grab her.” Just as Emily turned away from Kelley to find Sam, she walked around the corner and saw who Emily had been talking to. She looked like a deer in headlights. Busted. Sam froze for a millisecond and recovered quickly.

 

“Hey Em! Ready for the scavenger hunt?!”

 

_So that is what Kelley was talking about on the stairs_ thought Emily.

 

“Actually, speaking of the scavenger hunt, we apparently already have a team. You, me, and your cousin Kelley.” She emphasized Kelley’s name.

 

“Right.” Sam turned to the next room and told her Mom and Dad that her and Emily were going to step outside for a short walk before the scavenger hunt. Dragging Emily by the arm, Sam briskly walked towards the front door. Kelley tried not to watch the strange interaction but couldn’t help it. Something about Emily sparked a feeling within her. Maybe it was her beautiful and surprised blue eyes or how she adorably stumbled over her words? But Emily was a few years younger than her and not to mention her little cousin’s friend. She has no right sparking any sort of interest. _Was there any harm in flirting?_ Kelley thought. _I mean, she could be straight for all I know._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Alright, cut the shit…” Emily started the minute the front door closed behind them. Although she was still in shock from her star struck meeting, Emily had enough time to let the answer start to grow.

 

Sam held up her arms in defense. “Okay, I really need you to hear me out!” Emily huffed but reluctantly nodded her head. “So we’ve been friends since our junior year in that sociology class, right?”

 

“Sam, I don’t need the history of our friendship, why the hell didn’t you tell me Kelley…” she began to yell but reminded herself to quiet down in case they could hear inside. “…why didn’t you tell me Kelley O’Hara was your cousin?!”

 

“I was getting to that.” Sam’s face was starting to get red, mentally yelling at herself from a few two semesters ago. “So we started becoming friends and we hit it off so well. Plus, I mean, you are gay and I’m bi so it felt like we had that whole extra bond going. But I didn’t realize you were such a serious soccer player until you missed class for that tournament. You know when you asked if I could give you the class notes? Well I decided to not mention Kelley then because we were still in the new stages of friendship…don’t roll your eyes! Friendship totally goes through the dating stages! Anyway, I didn’t want that to be the reason you decided to keep hanging out with me after class let out. UVA was my escape from it all. Somehow everyone in my high school knew we were related and the other athletes treated me differently. And then there is my family, Kelley is amazing and everything they make her out to be but they never even talked about me placing in the top ten at Districts when I ran in high school.” She took a deep breath to steady herself.

 

“Anyway, then I began to realized you were probably going to end up meeting them at some point because you’re going to get drafted and all that. I swear I was going to bring it up when I mentioned Thanksgiving to you but then you told me about your crushes on the team members and I panicked because how was I supposed to tell you that you just talked about how hot my cousin is! Which I had to withhold saying ‘ew’ to at the time because you would have asked why I wasn’t into them. She wasn’t even supposed to be here until tomorrow either! I thought I had a full day to warn you or to at least subtly bring up the fact that your crush is actually my cousin. And hey, I told you to never say never about meeting the women’s team members at the bar last night, so I was dropping small hints!”

 

Sam was pacing the entire length of the yard, slightly out of breath which was shocking because she is a distance runner. Once she finished, she turned on her heals to face me. Emily uncrossed her arms from across her chest and placed them defiantly on her hips. The anger within her was starting to ease up and was then being replaced by embarrassment.

 

“Oh my god. You let me talk about how hot your cousin was and I was tipsy and started to get a little graphic. Holy hell.” Now it was Emily’s turn to pace. “And by the way, you are so not forgiven. You should have told me about it once you realized I’d still hang out with all your weirdness after our class ended or I don’t know, the first time you talked about your extended family!” Sam looks down at her feet as grazes the bottom of her shoes on the top of the grass blades. She looks like a kicked puppy dog.

 

Emily speaks up after a pause. “So I need to officially get this straight. We met, you were afraid to bring up the fact that your cousin is on the national team for the fear that that’s the only reason I’d hang out with you. Then you let it continue all the way to the point of me telling you I have a crush on her and that I could potentially be sitting across from her at Thanksgiving dinner?” Sam made brief eye contact with Emily and gives her a small nod, clearly worried that Emily will want to leave. “You’re such an awkward human being, any normal person would have just said something.”

 

This got Sam to finally crack a smile but she tried to recover quickly to her serious face. “Does this mean you’ll stay for the week? And even remain friends with me?”

 

“Well you have the car keys, so do I really have any other option?”

 

They’re both finally smirking at each other. “Not that I would condone it really, but I totally saw potential in there…” Emily’s face turned a shade of scarlet at Sam’s comment.

 

“Please, let’s not talk about my sudden decrease in vocabulary back there. Now that I know she is your cousin, it makes everything way weirder.” Emily tried to scrunch up her face which earned a laugh from her friend. Clearly, Sam believed Emily meant that she wasn’t attracted to Kelley O’Hara, well just Kelley now that they’ve met, after finding out she was related to Sam. If only Emily could get herself to believe it as well. Yes, the star struck was slowly fading and instead stood a woman that was insanely beautiful, playful, and very real. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	3. Scavenger Hunt Pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting this a bit late, I got distracted watching the Portland game :) I don't feel too great about this chapter but want to have the next one posted really soon! Again, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes!

Emily and Sam just reentered the house after their discussion. It seemed like everyone was getting up and splitting into teams of three for the family scavenger hunt. In the front living room, Kelley pretended like she hadn’t been glancing out the front window to watch Sam and Emily’s animated interaction. She told herself that she was watching out of sheer boredom and not because she wanted to steal quick glances of her cousin’s friend. Once Emily and Sam came back in through the front door, Kelley started scrolling through her phone so they wouldn’t realize she was staring. Emily and Sam walked up to Kelley on the couch as she scrolled through her Instagram feed like her life depended on it. The only problem was that she was scrolling too fast to look at any of the pictures. Kelley sensed their approach and jumped up!

 

“Are you guys ready?! This is going to be great, probably better than last year! I’ve been in a car all morning so I can’t wait to run around. Fair warning, I’m competitive.” Kelley shot a look towards Emily at her last statement.

 

Sam laughed, “Em, you’ll soon realize why her nickname is Squirrel. She might love the outdoors, but I’m pretty sure Kelley rivals a squirrel on coffee with her energy level.”

 

“I look forward to seeing that; it’s got to play in our favor for this scavenger hunt.”

 

“You bet it will!” Kelley said, looping her arm through Emily’s as they walked outside.

 

At initial contact, Emily was thrown, but her body responded quickly, sending a spark-like feeling down her arms and side as if her nerve endings were screaming.  Emily typically never initiated contact. Hugs for example: there was just too much uncertainty around it all. Does she do a one arm hug, should she position her arms as one above and below, both above, or both below? She shouldn’t even get started figuring out how to gauge how long a hug should even last. Emily didn’t mind Kelley’s touch; even though it shocked her body awake, it felt natural. Kelley kept their arms linked even after they got outside and waited for Sam’s mom to explain the rules.

 

Once all the cousins and family members participating were in their groups on the front lawn, Sam’s mom began to explain the rules. Sam’s mom started, “The rules are, there are no rules.” Some of the guy cousins punched each other on the arm or cheered. Emily began to panic at the competitive intensity of this family.

 

“Only joking, Emily’s eyes almost bulged out of her head! Anyway, the envelopes are on the car windshields. Your team of three will go into town and try to find all of the items on the list. Get creative; once you have everything on the list come back here. But remember, I have the final say if the item fits in the list. Don’t speed on the way into town! And one final note, Kelley and Sam, do not tackle anyone this year....” The family surrounding them chuckled, Sam feigned innocent, and Kelley looked over and Emily’s surprised face and winked at her.

 

“Alright! In three…two…one…go!”

 

Emily, Kelley, and Sam sprinted over to Sam’s car and were the first to make it there which was unsurprising based on their athletic team. Kelley quickly grabbed the small, white envelope on the windshield and ripped it open. Sam leaned over Kelley’s shoulder to get a better look at the list. Emily followed suit, acutely aware of how close she was to Kelley. She would smell her fruity shampoo and could have sworn she felt the heat radiating off of her despite their layers of clothing.

 

“A person dressed in dying leaf colors?! There has to be some better way of saying that…maybe, oh, I don’t know…fall colors? Your guys’ family is pretty unique.” Kelley let out a laugh and nudged Emily with her hip as she continued to read down the list she was holding. Sam looked over at Emily and just shrugged, “Didn’t I warn ya?”

 

Emily looked back down at the list:

           

“Get pictures with the following:

 

            - A person dressed in dying leaf colors

            - A 10lb Butterball Turkey

            - A pilgrim hat

            - A house decorated for Christmas

            - A large, medium, and small pumpkin

            - Reenact the Charlie Brown-Lucy football scene “

 

“Shotgun!” Emily yelled before either Sam or Kelley had a chance to think.  Sam shook her head and all three got into the car. Kelley pouted as she went to reach for the backseat door.  

 

“You know, we could have used my car.” Kelley pointed out.

 

“Then we wouldn’t get to town until Thursday,” Sam retorted as she put her keys into the ignition. Emily glanced back to smirked at Kelley.

 

“Har-har, I get where I’m going without getting speeding tickets, thank you very much.” Emily knew what Kelley was referring to; just last month Sam had been pulled over and received a warning for driving too quickly on campus roads.

 

“So really what we are getting at is that I am obviously the best driver in the car.” Both Kelley and Sam looked at Emily and busted up laughing. Sam mumbled something Emily about being a boring driver while Kelley rolled her eyes. “But you’ve never even been in a car with me while I was driving!” Emily turned around in her seat to look at Kelley.

 

“In due time.” Kelley said with a wink.

 

Emily’s cheeks flushed and she jumped as Sam started the car. During the short drive, Sam and Kelley planned out their strategies for the scavenger hunt. Emily was very competitive herself, but she wasn’t sure she was fully prepared for their family dynamic.

 

“Is everyone in your family this competitive?”

 

“You’ve met my family, so yeah. My brother likes to pretend he is laid back but he isn’t above shoving our younger cousins to win an Easter egg hunt.” Emily nods as she thinks about Sam’s brother who always looks put together: never a hair out of place but she isn’t surprised by the competitive layer underneath the model exterior.

 

“I might not even be the most competitive from my family,” Kelley added. At this, Emily gave a worried look, making Kelley let out a loud laugh. “Don’t worry my parents and siblings won’t be able to come. I was just able to make it this year because I was in Jersey meeting with my coach.” Right, Emily thought, Kelley played for Sky Blue when she wasn’t with the national team. Suddenly, she felt weird knowing all this information about someone she just met. Even though Emily idolized Becky Sauerbrunn as a player, she knew a lot about the national’s team back line. She did some extra googling a few years ago on Kelley because she, well, even seeing her picture on the screen make her hands get clammy.

 

At this, Emily began to realize that her initial nervousness was most likely due to the fact that Kelley was her idol, and that she didn’t actually have a mini crush developing. There was a fine balance between infatuation and being in love. It was even something that she always warned her friends about before they decided to use the “l-word.” Did they actually love them or were they just someone new and exciting in their life? The same principles applied here, at least she thought so. Not many people actually interact with their celebrity crush for more than a short autograph or photo, which made this slightly new territory.

 

_She probably is straight. Right? But then why would Sam make a comment about seeing sparks fly? Come on, it’s Sam. She would see sparks fly between a dog and their bone; she’s in love with the idea of love. Then again, it totally seemed like Kelley had been flirting with me. Or is that her way with everyone? Oh my gosh, just focus on having fun with Sam’s family. Kelley is just a family member here, that’s all._ Emily gave herself a short nod at her conclusion.  

 

Kelley noticed Emily zoning out in the front seat. She didn’t think Emily realized that whatever thought was running though her head, her facial reaction changed. Kelley bit back a smile as she watched what must have been the outside of Emily’s internal thoughts. Before she could look away, she heard Sam clear her throat and they made eye contact in the rear view mirror. A short conversation was held just through their eye contact. Kelley was trying to play off that she has been staring at her cousin’s friend and Sam just raised her eyebrow and in response, got a mischievous grin. Just as Emily nodded to herself, they parked in town.

 

They quickly piled out of the car, looking for any obvious things they could check off their list. Unfortunately, none were in sight so they sprinted off to the grocery store. Despite the fact that Kelley was in national team shape and Emily is near national shape, Sam took the lead. Running was her territory. They made it to the grocery store four minutes later. They slowed their run to a brisk walk after the manager gave them a dirty look. Once they found the turkey section, they started searching. Finding the turkey to the exact specifications, Emily screeched and lifted a wrapped raw turkey above her head. “I HAVE FOUND BUTTERBALL! HA!” She began to dance in excitement.

 

“This might be the best thing that happens during this entire scavenger hunt.” Kelley chuckled while she took a video of Emily dancing with her turkey, followed by a picture to make sure they followed the rules.

 

“Now this is how you do a turkey dance.” Kelley began a move of her own invention.

 

“Wait, guys! Are you seriously having a dance off?! We’re in the middle of a serious competition!” Emily and Kelley stopped suddenly, grinning at each other.  She doesn’t give them time to answer before she looks down at the list, searching for the next item, “What counts as human?”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. Still trying to get used to writing fiction!


	4. Scavenger Hunt Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the Scavenger Hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a filler chapter, sorry! I was planning on having it up yesterday but I'm in the process of moving out and prepping for my graduation. I'm going to post another chapter in the next day or two!

"Aren’t you a bio major?! I know UVA is no Stanford, but really?" Kelley stopped dancing to look over at Sam.

 

"Hey!" Both Emily and Sam replied defensively.

 

"I'm not even going to address that ridiculous comment. Anyway, what if this ‘human,’” Sam made air quotes, “is actually hay on a stick?”

 

"In Sam terms, are you asking if a scarecrow counts as human?" Emily rolled her eyes towards Sam.

 

Kelley added, "This isn't Oz, I doubt the scarecrow would count."

 

"Here me out, this scarecrow is dress up as a human but doesn't have the anatomy. Where else are we going to find a person dressed in different shades of brown and red?!"

 

Kelley and Emily make eye contact, trying to figure out if they could really bend the rules that much. They seemed to have come to a decision and gave each other a nod.

 

"Fine, but you're the one that's going to pose with it." Emily smiled at her decision.

 

They turned their attention towards the scarecrow dressed in dead leaf colors over by the soda display. The trick was the scarecrow was sitting on a tower of Pepsi boxes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Sorry!" Sam yelled over her shoulder as they ran out of grocery store. The general manager stood at the exit, with his hands on his hips and red in the face. Sam managed to get the picture with the scarecrow, but the manager caught Sam balancing on the top of the Pepsi display with her arm hanging around it. As soon as they hoped in the car, they all busted out into laughter. After another two hours, they looked over the list.

 

            - A person dressed in dying leaf colors

            - A 10lb Butterball Turkey

            - A pilgrim hat

            - A house decorated for Christmas

            - A large, medium, and small pumpkin

            - Reenact the Charlie Brown-Lucy football scene

 

The only thing left was to reenact the Charlie Brown-Lucy football scene.

 

They stood outside the local high school. Even though the paper didn’t specify that the scene had to take place on an actual football field, Sam thought it was only fitting. Emily was only three steps out of the car when she felt someone fling themselves on her back. If it wasn’t for her athletic ability, Emily would have toppled over from Kelley’s sudden desire for a piggy back ride. If Sam had done this, Emily would have immediately shoved her off but with Kelley, she didn’t mind the sudden contact. Kelley wasn’t entirely sure why she decided to jump on Emily’s back, but feeling Sam’s muscles against her stomach confirmed that it was a good idea. She just hoped that Sam didn’t notice her flirting. It was clear that Emily was catching onto Kelley’s goofiness but Kelley was glad that Emily seemed oblivious to her flirting.

 

Sam, on the other hand, was not fazed by Kelley’s contact. Kelley was always playing around and Kelley didn’t mind physical contact so this seemed no different. Sam just did her signature eye roll as Kelley pointed her arm straight ahead and yelled “Onward!” Emily started laughing but marched on.

 

“So I know this is the wrong ‘football’ for you two but you’ll just have to suck it up for this video.” Sam looked over and gave them both a teasing smile. Kelley raised her eyebrows on hearing that Emily was a soccer player, taking the time to check out her physique as well. It made sense, Kelley, she was extremely fit with lean legs and toned arms. Her body started to warm at the thought of Emily’s core and what she would look like in a sports bra. Kelley had just assumed that Emily was one of Sam’s distance runner friends. Emily grabbed the football out of Sam’s hand and placed it on the ground with her index finger holding it in place.

 

“Ready?”

 

“You wish; I have a feeling you’re clumsy. Charlie Brown seems like a more fitting role for you.” Emily stood up at this, arms crossed.

 

“Did I not just keep my balance when someone flung their body on mine.” Emily blushed at the double entendre. She tried to keep her face in a challenging glare.

 

“Do you recall the first time we met, you practically ran me over? I know my body’s rock hard and all that but it shouldn’t have given you a concussion.” Kelley retorted.

 

Emily paused for a minute thinking about Kelley’s body. “You’re pretty confident, seems like you need a challenger.”

 

“Perfect, Em! You can work out with Kelley tomorrow morning! I’m sure you both do some of the same stuff. You can challenge her then. But right now we are in the middle of a more important challenge.” Sam spoke up surprising both Kelley and Emily. Neither had broken eye contact with each other during their exchange and both had forgotten about Sam’s presence. Emily gulped at the realization she just challenged Kelley O’Hara to a workout.

 

Kelley was internally worrying that this spark between them could develop into something more if she saw Emily’s all sweaty in tight workout gear tomorrow morning. She swallowed the thought and playfully grabbed the ball from Emily.

 

“Ready to do this?”

 

 

* * *

  

 

They ran through the front door of the house. Sam’s brother, Connor, stood with his group arguing with Sam’s mother. Emily was able to make out someone yelling, “that counts as Christmas decorations!” and “9.6 pounds rounds to a ten-pound turkey.”

 

Kelley struts over to the group and says “Calm down. We crushed it and it appears you guys aren’t on our level.”

 

Connor crossed his arms and Sam walked over to the group and hip checked him.

“Alright, let me see the pictures…” Sam’s mom reached for the phone that Kelley was holding out.

 

“That’s the butterball turkey…looks like Emily was enjoying that one. A pilgrim hat on a dog, I’m not even going to ask how you managed that. There’s the house decorated and the pumpkin picture. The scarecrow is a bit of a stretch but I’ll take it, I’m guessing my daughter came up with that one.” Sam’s mom rolled her eyes while Sam beamed even though she wasn’t sure it was a compliment. She flipped to the next video and pressed play. Sam’s mom howled in laughter at the video of Kelley and Emily’s football scene. “It looks like we have a winner.”

 

Emily, Sam, and Kelley managed to do a synchronized three ways, high-five.

 

“Whatever.” Connor remained close by to hear the final verdict from his mother. “What’s their reward?”

 

“Their team gets to fill their plates first at Thanksgiving.”

 

“Mom! That’s not fair.” Connor whined like a thirteen-year-old despite his age being twice that. “They’re going to eat all the food. I’m pretty sure the three of them combined are going to eat more the twenty-five of us together. Oh! I have an idea, how about the three of you can’t work out for the next two days so you’re not as hungry and the rest of us can eat on Thursday?”

 

“Har Har” Sam said as she punched her older brother in the arm.

 

“Can’t. I have a workout date tomorrow.” Kelley slung her arm over Emily’s shoulder.

 

Emily’s eyes grew wide at the mention of the workout date even though she knew that Kelley was joking around. She couldn’t hide the fact that the idea of an actual date sounded really appealing.

 

“Good luck, dude.” Connor said to Emily.

 

“I’m being to think I’m going to need a lot of that.” Emily said under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think, sorry it was short!


	5. What position?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Workout time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it took so long to get this up. Turns out moving our of two places and graduating takes up a lot of time...I am already writing the next chapter so I'll post that tomorrow to make up for the gap in time! Hope you all like it, let me know what you think!

Emily’s alarm clock buzzed

Emily flailed her arms about, keeping her eyes shut, trying to find her phone to shut off the annoying alarm. She had every intention of throwing her phone out of irritation. Waking up at 6:30 should be illegal on breaks. 

Emily's alarm shut off unexpectedly and she opened her right eye to look around. Sam was standing next to the bed holding Emily's phone and shaking her head. 

"If you're not a morning person and you go to bed at 10pm, what are you even classified as?" Sam gave Emily an amused look. 

"A normal human being." Emily spat out and shoved her pillow over her head. She lifted her pillow up and looked at Sam.  Sam was already dressed in running tights and a long sleeve tech tee. "What is wrong with you runners?! You actually look happy to be awake this early for a long run."

Sam rolled her eyes, "I don't love it that much, I just like the idea of running 14 miles and doing yoga before most people even wake up." 

"Why am I friends with you? You're so strange."

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that I'm the weirdo in this friendship." Sam bent down to lace up her Brooks running shoes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't you be getting ready for your date" she used air quotes when she said the word date. "Knowing Kelley, she'll be barging in at any moment."

Emily shot straight up in bed. "I knew that would get your attention. I'm gonna go get my run over with, see you in a few hours if you manage to make it through your training session with Kelley. Deuces."

"No one says that anymore!" Emily yelled back at her as Sam closed the bedroom door behind her. 

Emily remained in bed for another minute to collect herself. Her eyes still had sleep in them and all she wanted to do was go back to bed. But she couldn't, she chose to be a college athlete which meant waking up at the crack of dawn to workout. It was true that being a professional or college athlete made a person unique. The more Emily thought about it though, she realized a lot of people had potential to make it far in their given sport. The main reason professional and college athletes made it, was due to their natural skill but they also made the decision to make it the focus of their life. There usually comes a point somewhere along middle school and early high school when an athlete has to commit fully to their sport or let it mix with other priorities. Emily was a freshman in high school when she began to realize that soccer took priority over her social life. She missed her first homecoming because she had a soccer tournament, early the next morning. Some of the girls on Emily's team decide they could do both but their game the next day suffered. When her freshman floor went out to party, she stayed in knowing they had a 6am practice. This was just another example of the life that Emily chosen to lead.

"Eyes on the gold." Emily said to herself in order to kick her body into gear. For some this was a metaphor but to her, it was all she wanted. Emily was determined to make the World Cup team and to win the gold medal in the Rio Olympics, even if it was a little while away. 

 

 

* * *

 

  

Emily just tied her sweatpants securely and was reaching for her shirt when Kelley barged in. 

 

"Gooood morning! Oops" Kelley giggled at the shock on Emily's face. Emily reached across her chest. "Awh, don't be shy. Not the first time I've seen a girl in a sports bra." Kelley was trying to play off the fact that her whole body felt hot seeing Emily in her sports bra. She took her time checking out her abs and toned arms, Kelley had seen many teammates in sports bras but there was just something sexy about Emily in hers. 

 

Emily wasn't sure how to take the comment but got oddly jealous at the idea. Which was strange because Emily spent plenty of time in her team locker room which was full of half clothes girls. _So I guess that means Kelley isn't the least bit phased by my partial nudity,_ thought Emily. 

"Uhh...I'm almost ready." 

"I can see that" smirked Kelley. Emily got the hint that Kelley wasn't going to step out to let Emily get ready by herself. Kelley plopped down on the bed, trying to avoid eyeing Emily up and down once she turned away. Kelley tried to remind herself, that she would only be seeing Emily for this vacation and there was no point developing any sort of attraction, physically or emotionally. Emily pulled her t shirt over her head and slipped on her shoes. She grabbed her quarter zip off the top of the computer chair and grabbed her cleats then turned to Kelley, "I'm ready."

 

 

* * *

 

 

As they got into Kelley's car, Emily realized she didn't know where they were going. Kelley read Emily's facial expression and began to explain, "the field is over by the local high school, I've only been to this field a few times but it's descent enough."

"So does that mean you train a lot during family functions?" Emily tried to make conversation because her nerves started to kick in. 

"For the most part." Kelley turned left out of the neighbor and glanced over. "If you want to be the best, you have to train like the best. Ya know? Speaking of which, what type of training were you thinking today. Obviously, UVA is a great program so you have to be in great shape. Although it's no..."

 

"Stanford?" Emily finished for her smiling. 

 

"I'm loyal, sue me." Kelley glanced over but Emily could tell from her tone that she was joking. 

 

"You asked me on this date, I figured you make the workout plans." Emily brought her back to the topic with a flirty tone. 

Kelley paused, _is she flirting with me? Am I reading too much into this?_ "It's a surprise." As much as she wanted to spend the morning flirting, she had a workout that needed to be done. There was a bit of mystery around Emily. If she played for UVA, she honestly had to be good but was she a starter or did she play the bench. She thought about texting Moe to get the scoop but thought that might be creepy and Moe would not give her a break if she did. 

They pulled into the parking lot then. Emily got out of the car first and they began to walk towards the track. Once they were on the field, Kelley and Emily changed into their cleats. Despite the nerves that Emily had been feeling in the car, the butterflies subsides when she stepped onto the pitch. This was her territory even if she was in the company of a national team member. Even one who happened to be really cute and distracting. 

 

They began with an easy dynamic warm up with drills that Kelley lead. Following the warm up, Kelley smiled at Emily. "You ready for one of Dawn's mini workout" 

 

Emily swallowed hard not sure if she was ready for the workout that lay ahead of her. They began by running a mile around the field, followed by push-ups, speed skaters, planks, alternating lunges, jump squats, and inch warms. They had a four-minute break and then proceeded to do the process another three times. Kelley was about 50 meters ahead of Emily during the last mile. Emily was secretly proud of herself for only being behind by a small amount. For those that followed the women's team, they knew Kelley always set records for the beep test so Emily being a few paces behind increased her confidence. 

As they finished their last inch worm, Kelley went over to Emily and gave her a hug. "Dude, that was awesome." Kelley said to Emily, both still out of breath. "You'd beat half of my team with that performance." Emily beamed still hugging Kelley. Emily's body was on fire and not just from the workout. She could feel all of Kelley's toned body against her own. Kelley pulled away reluctantly. "So ready to run some drills? One on one? What position are you?"

"Back."

"I can see that now." Kelley was giving her a nod of approval. 

 

"Not all of us can play every position." Emily's internal voice kicked in _oh shit, she knows I know who she is. Well duh, I obviously play soccer so I'd know the national team members. But I totally just have away that I follow her in the league as we_ ll. If Emily's cheeks weren't red from the workout, they certainly were now. 

Kelley seemed a little more confident now, "You know what positions I play? I thought you might be one of those soccer players who didn't follow professional soccer. But you totally follow me, don't you?" Kelley's voice started to rise and she began doing mini hops from her excitement.

 

"Don't get a big head. It's totally normal for a defender to follow the defenders on the national team." Emily tried to recover but could hold back her own smile at Kelley's excitement. 

"You've been checking me out!" Kelley paused and smirked at Emily's wide eyes from her comment, realizing that it could have multiple meanings. Kelley started to blush at her own comment, she tried to play it off "I bet you follow me on twitter!"

 

Emily rolled her eyes, "that would require you to actually tweet." Emily grabbed the ball and began to walk back towards the goal. "You're playing forward." 

Kelley followed Emily, smiling at her back. _This was a good sign,_ Kelley thought. _She obviously must like me a little to know things about me._ Kelley jogged to catch up to Emily, wrapping her arm around her shoulder as they walked towards the goal.


	6. New roomie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a bit of a build up chapter, it a little short but I figured I'd post it now like I promised and have a longer chapter next time! I wrote this all on the notes of my phone so I'm sorry for any typos and grammar mistakes! Hope you like it!

“Hey roomie!” Emily swung her head around in confusion at Kelley’s comment. Was she talking to me? Emily thought.

 

“Yes, Em. Wipe that confused look off your face because we both know you’re secretly excited about the idea.” Kelley winked at Emily.

 

“This is traditionally when someone explained a comment like that…”

 

“My other cousin, Chloe, we shared a room last night. Well, her boyfriend was able to make it after all and he is going to sleep with Chloe. I got booted and sent your way. Looks like you and Sam will have to make room for me tonight.”

 

Emily tried to keep her face neutral but knew her cheeks were heating up at the thought of possibly sharing a bed with Kelley. She thought back to the king size bed she spent the night in last night. There was easily enough room to have Kelley fit with them so she wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. But that meant Kelley would be sleeping within a foot of her. Emily couldn't hold back the small smile that spread over her lips.

 

"And that's the reaction I was looking for!" Kelley's eyes held a certain playfulness that made Emily feel giddy even if she tried to deny it.

 

"What reaction?" Sam walked up next to them, breaking Emily and Kelley from their eye contact that held a little too long to be platonic.

 

"I'm your new roomie!" Kelley jumped around with her usual enthusiasm.

 

"Awesome!" Sam and Kelley did a synchronized high-five that they had obviously practice throughout their childhood.

 

Sam paused for just a second, wondering if Emily stilled had a crush on Kelley after meeting her. If so, she thought the sleeping arrangement would become a little more interesting. Obviously nothing would every happen between Kelley and Emily, Sam though, but she wanted to see the look on Emily's face if she made her sleep in the middle. Sam held a scheming glint in her eye that Emily had grown to somewhat fear. Emily could tell Sam was plotting something. Sam looked over at Emily and realized Emily could tell.

 

"Sam, you're totally plotting something. I want in!" Kelley had picked up on Sam's facial expression as well.

 

Sam smirked, "you're already a part of it, don't worry."

 

"Okay? Anyone down for a movie?" Kelley glanced between Emily and Sam.

 

"Only if I get to pick!" Sam started running towards the family room. Kelley ran after her, narrowing dodging the dog. "Not fair, I came up with the idea."   
Emily slowly started walking through the kitchen to go into the family room, taking her time to prepare herself for whatever scheme Sam had cooked up. By the time she entered the family room, the dog was parking and wagging its tail at the scene before them. Sam and Kelley were wrestling like five year olds for the remote. Their cousin, Ben, walked in and leaned towards Emily. He looked like a mix of Sam and Kelley, she knew that Ben's mom was the middle sister of Kelley's mom and Sam's mom. Ben was obviously an athlete, had light brown hair, and a dust of freckles on his face. Emily was sure he probably caught a lot of girls attention. It was clear that the three sisters of the family held pretty dominant genes. "This kind of stuff happened more than you think, we have a tendency to revert back to our childhood when we're around the cousins."

 

"Shocking by how maturely they are handling this..." Emily laughed and gestured before her. Kelley has pinned Sam and was holding the remote behind her back. Ben walked over and quickly grabbed the remote from Kelley's hand.

 

"Hey!" Both Sam and Kelley yelled. Ben turned on the tv and shook his head, "I won, so I pick the movie now."

 

Sam fixed her hair after the playful brawl and Kelley situation herself on the long couch right next to Emily. Sam went over to sit on the love seat next to Ben.

 

"Fine, better be something good" Kelley grumbled.

 

"Emily, you're the guest. Any request?" Ben looked over at her. Sam rolled her eyes and Emily could feel Kelley fidgeting next to her.

 

"She's the man?" Emily said.

 

"Ah another soccer girl in the household." Ben replied.

 

"She played at UVA, Em's really good!" Sam beamed proudly at her friend. Kelley spoke up now, "I can second that."

 

Emily flushed at the compliment, Sam loved to brag about Emily's playing skill but hearing Kelley agree made her want to do a mini dance. Ben pulled her out of her thoughts when he said, "College athlete, kind of makes it hard to date. But someone that looks like you probably has a boyfriend, right?"

 

"Oh my god, stop flirting with her. Gross." Sam punched Ben's arm.

 

"What? It's an innocent question!" Ben shrugged his shoulders. Emily was at a loss for words, unsure of what to say.

 

"You are so not her type." Sam said shaking her head.

 

"How so?" He turned his attention to Emily. She knew Sam wouldn't answer for her this time because Sam would never out someone even if they were already out to almost everyone. Emily opened her mouth to respond but she heard Kelley's voice.

 

"Don't be such an ass." Emily raised her eyebrows, Kelley actually sounded really annoyed. Emily knew that Ben was mostly joking but it seemed Kelley wasn't having it.

 

"I was joking." He raised his arms in surrender but sent Emily a wink.

 

The movie began a minute later, much to Kelley's relief. She's not sure why she got so worked up over Ben's flirting. Although it was blunt, she knew he was joking around. But she couldn't shake the slow burn of annoyance that built within her during the interaction. If Kelley was being honest with herself, she might have labeled it as jealousy but she wasn't the jealous type so she remained in denial.

 

The end of the scene where Violas high school team got cut was when Kelley began to think about Sam's comment. What did she mean that Ben wasn't Emily's type? It could have been a simple statement that Emily liked blondes better or was it something more. Kelley has said similar things to guys that hit on her, trying to subtly let them know she was actually gay. Was Emily gay? Bi? Pan? Kelley couldn't hide the excitement that sparked within her at the idea. Slow your roll,Kelley warmed herself, even if she's into girls it doesn't mean she'd be into you. Jeez Kelley, jumping ahead much? Nothing can happen remember?

 

Despite Kelley's own warning thoughts, throughout the movie Emily and Kelley managed to scoot closer and closer to each other. It felt like the air was full of electricity that only Emily and Kelley could notice. Emily wasn't even sure what part of the movie they where at anymore. All of her thoughts were focused on the fact that Kelley and her own shoulder were pressed against each other. Why a simple touch left such an effect on Emily was beyond her comprehension. The movie ended at some point and Emily felt exhausted. Trying to calm herself down, along resisting the urge to scoot closer to Kelley left her drained.

 

* * *

 

 

  
Following dinner, Kelley went out onto the front porch to sit by herself. She wasn't surprised when only ten minutes later, she heard the front door open. Enough of her family was here, that it was hard to get a minute alone to herself. Kelley was surprised though, that the person who sat down next to her was Sam.

 

"I haven't really had any time to catch up with you alone." Sam propped her elbows on her knee and turned to look at Kelley.

 

"Where is Emily?" Kelley tried to chalk up her curiosity to something more casual.

 

Sam waved her arm casually, "Ben is in there entertaining her."

Kelley couldn't help but clench her jaw at the thought. "You okay?" Sam looked at Kelley with concern.

 

"Yeah, just have a lot on my mind."

 

"I'm here if you need to talk. Isn't your camp coming up soon?"

 

Kelley nodded her head, "in just a few weeks, they should be announcing the roster pretty soon."

 

"Are you going to be okay with her there?"

 

"It's been a year, Hope is married. I've realized she was doing the stupid experimenting thing and I'm actually over it. Actually."

 

Sam nods, "Am I allowed to say I was never really a fan?"

 

Kelley let out a laugh. "I wish I could say the same." She grabbed a sip out of her water bottle.

 

"Anyone new?" Sam inquired.

 

Kelley spat out a little bit of water at the question. "Uhhh...nothing with feasible potential."

 

"So there is someone?"

 

Kelley panicked at the idea of Sam putting the pieces together and quickly shifted the topic trying to throw a curveball in Sam's direction. "I could ask you the same thing. Did you actually bring Emily as a friend or...?"

 

Sam was clearly thrown at what the comment implied. "Ewe, Em is great but it is a total sister kind of relationship. We aren't each other's type."

 

Ah ha! Kelley noticed Sam's slip. Emily was at least interested in girls. "So you're both already with people?" Kelley offered up, again, trying to sound casual.

 

"Ha! I date around but I usually spend my Friday nights trying to get Emily to hit on anyone."

 

"Emily's not the best at flirting, huh?"

 

Sam laughed, "I love her but she has a particular..." Sam giggled to herself, "she has a particular type."

 

Kelley wanted to press Sam on the issue, what was Emily's type then? But she knew that Sam would begin to get suspicious if she kept perusing the topic.

 

"Anyway, I'm so ready for bed. How about we all watch a movie before bed in our room?" Sam suggested. 

 

Kelley gulped as she followed Sam inside to head towards the room she was now sharing with Emily and Sam. 


	7. Porch Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The slow build.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been sick the past day or two which kept me from writing. But I figured I'd post a chapter the day of/night before the friendly tomorrow! Sorry for any grammar, spelling mistakes, and short length of the chapter!

Kelley followed Sam up the stairs. Sam continued to ramble on about something Kelley was tuning out. Sam was the type of person who could hold a conversation with a tree and Kelley was typically the same but her nerves overruled loquaciousness. Sam opened the door to their room.

 

“Sam! Why is it that you always manage to walk in on me when I’m halfway through changing?” Emily was only in an old pair of soccer shorts and a bra. She gave Sam and exasperated look and flushed as soon as she realized Kelley was standing behind Sam. Kelley couldn’t hold back a smirk at how flustered Emily got.

 

“As I said before, nothing I haven’t seen.” Sam raised an eyebrow at Kelley’s comment. Kelley realized how it sounded and followed up. “I mean other girls.” Emily was also looking at Kelley now in just her bra and shorts. “I mean not like lots of girls. But I’ve seen girls…I mean teammates in the locker room.” Kelley pressed her lips together. She never rambled, yet here she was with a case of what her dad referred to as ‘verbal diarrhea’. Sam and Emily exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

 

“Alright guys, let’s just get ready for bed.” Kelley threw a pillow off the bed towards Emily and Sam. Emily realized her shirt was still in her hands and quickly pulled the tank top over her head. Kelley left to go to the bathroom and soon after the door closed Sam turned towards Emily.

 

“So Em, I was thinking you could sleep in the middle because you know I like to dangle my leg off the side of the bed.” Emily paused midway folding her the shirt she was wearing that day.

 

“I’m sorry, but what?” Emily tried to keep her voice level to hide the fact that her stomach flipped.

 

“What? It’s no big deal.” Sam smiled innocently.

 

“What’s no big deal?” Kelley entered the room then.

 

_Jeez, what is with this family and walking in an awkward time_ Emily thought. Emily turned towards Kelley. “Sam has assigned our sleeping situation apparently. Do you want middle or outside?”

 

“Middle is way more fun.”

 

“Kel, I’m pretty sure you’re the only one that thinks that.” Sam said as she walked out of the room towards the bathroom.

 

“So this might be a tight fit.” Emily said shyly.

 

Kelley smirked, “doesn’t that make it more fun?”

 

It was then that Emily was able to look at what Kelley was wearing. She wore old soccer shorts as well but was wearing a tank top that showed off her toned arms and clung to her abs. Kelley could feel Emily’s eyes on her and was pleased to have Emily appraising her body. There was something about Kelley’s mixture of confidence and goofiness that drew Emily in.

 

“Um, what?”

 

“It’s not nice to drool.” Kelley sent Emily a wink which was returned by a blush. “Time for bed.”

 

Emily walked over to the bed and by the time Kelley climbed in, Sam walked through the door oblivious to the sexual tension in the air.

 

“Slumber party! Woot Woot!” Sam danced her way to the bed in her oversized t-shirt. Once she got in the bed to the left of Kelley, she turned out the light. “Goodnight y’all!”

 

When the lights turned off, Emily could feel the electricity between Kelley and herself. Kelley couldn’t resist the urge and positioned herself right next to Emily. Neither girls could understand what why simply touching biceps could set their body on fire. “Is it okay if I cuddle you? I’m kind of a cuddlier.” Kelley whispered in Emily’s ear and Emily quickly nodded. Kelley laid on her side and pressed against Emily. She traced her finger along Emily’s shorts line and Emily could swear she felt her heart pounding in her ears. Kelley reminded herself, or at least tried to remind herself that she shouldn’t be making the moves on Emily. But she felt drawn to Emily like no one else before and she was beginning to think the feeling was mutual. Despite the electric feeling pulsing through both of them, the morning workout left them exhausted and they soon drifted off to sleep.

 

The following morning, Emily woke up as the little spoon with Kelley and barely shifted before Kelley’s groggy voice sounded against Emily’s right ear. “Good morning, Em.” Emily couldn’t believe that two words left a shiver down her spine. “Good morning, Kelley” Emily returned with a smile.

 

The third voice made them jump. “Good morning, Sam.” They turned to look at Sam’s odd greeting. “What? I felt left out!” Sam shrugged.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_Thanksgiving Dinner_

As they made their way to the kitchen and dining area, they took seats at the table that extended the lengths of two rooms. Ben sat across from Emily and Kelley noticed. Kelley squeezed her hand into a fist when she saw Ben wink at Emily. Sam had sat down next to Ben on the other side of the table from her and lightly smacked Ben in the back of the head. Emily chose to not acknowledge his flirting and began to talk to Sam. Dinner passed by quickly and the conversation flowed. After her second slice of pie, Emily was pretty sure she would need to roll out of the room.

 

As Emily was getting up, Kelley locked eyes with her and nodded her head towards the front door. A smiled spread over Emily's lips and she followed Kelley towards the front of the house. Once outside, Kelley sat down on the front step and patted the spot next to her. Emily sat down close to Kelley.

 

“So.” Emily started. “I don’t actually know that much about you?”

 

“Besides my soccer stats?” Kelley gave Emily a wink. “But same goes for you.”

 

“I asked first.”

 

“What do you want to know, Em?”

 

“Tell me about your first crush?” Emily isn’t sure why she suggested this as the first topic.

 

"Interesting, can’t say I remember. Can I do falling in love instead?” Both Kelley and Emily were surprised at what Kelley was offering to share.

 

“It’s a bit of a long story. Want the short version?" Kelley decided she would open up to Emily. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that Emily wasn't in her past experiencing it all with her like Sam. Or maybe it was the thought that she probably wouldn't see Emily much after this weekend, which actually left a pit feeling in her stomach.

 

Emily nodded her head as she said, "whichever you're more comfortable with."

 

Kelley smiled at that. After she rose to the national level, everyone seemed to want to know things about her life. But Emily seemed so sincere. "I've been in love with two different people. At least I'm pretty sure it was me being in love. Sometimes when I look back on it, I wonder if I loved the idea of them more then the actual person. Back at Stanford, I dated a girl named Ann. She wasn't a soccer player which was refreshing because my life had been consumed by it. I love soccer but back then I had my doubts. We dated for almost two years but then she fell in love with someone else. Chris always warned me about Ann, always telling me something along the lines of 'she's great but not the right fit for you.'"

 

Emily spent only a second wondering if Kelley was talking about her Stanford, now national team teammate, Christen Press. But all of Emily's focus was on Kelley. "How does someone fall out of love with you?" Right after Emily said it, her ears reddened and Kelley gave her a small smirked before Emily continued, "I mean, did she at least give you a reason?"

 

"Yeah, it was pretty valid. She told me that we were at different places in our lives. Ann wanted to go into healthcare and was looking for jobs when I was off playing every weekend for either Stanford or the U-23 national team. There was a girl in one of her classes with similar career goals, backgrounds, and most importantly she was actually there. So I came back from a game one day to see her sitting outside my apartment waiting to tell me she loved someone else." Kelley paused. "I should have seen it coming but I was just so blissfully unaware. It took me months to get over her because she was my first real relationship."

 

Kelley looked over at Emily, "I'm guessing I'll have to tell you who the second person is."  Emily raised her eyebrows in response. She didn't want Kelley to feel obligated to tell her more than she was ready to share.

 

"Okay, so this next person is why I don't date teammates." Kelley said in a slightly bitter tone.

 

Emily's interest was peaked, mainly because Kelley's tone made her feel like the relationship had to be relatively recent.

 

"We meet through soccer and I was a younger player rising up and she was already established on then national team. I had formed a crush early on and was giddy every time she took time away to talk to me."

 

Emily swallowed and the similarities and Kelley continued.

 

"It had been a year since Ann and I was finally acting like myself again. So I got my official call up to the national team after Ali's injury, which was not the way I wanted to it to go. But I decided I was going to put all of my effort into working to stay on the team and help the team out whether it was only in practice or games as well. Next thing I know, I'm rooming with her for a camp. I knew she wasn't gay per say but she kept flirting. She would take time to teach me how to play like a defender since I was used to being a forward. I was learning so much and really liked all the attention she was giving me. After one of our late night training sessions, we went back to the hotel room and things...escalated.  Things continued for a while but she always got paired with Carli for camps which made the little affair challenging. We never really talked about what we were. There were times where we acted like a couple and I think that's when I started to fall. But short story short, her boyfriend picked her up after one of our camps. You can imagine my surprise, I asked her about it and she brushed it off. I began to realize I was her goofy gay friend. I know I shouldn't speak for someone's sexuality but I think she was at least bi because I refuse to believe she didn't feel anything either. Things ended pretty quickly and I like to believe it was mutual but someone always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to break ups." Kelley gave a short laugh, "if you can even all it a break up."

 

Kelley paused for another moment and silence washed over them. Emily couldn't help but wonder who this mystery teammate was but had this strong gut feeling it had been a particular goal keeper. 

 

"It must be hard if you still have to see her. Seemed like a pretty intense relationship." Emily turned to look at Kelley after saying this. Kelley's head was tilted to the side thoughtfully staring at Emily.

 

 

"I was pretty rocked from the whole thing for a while but by the end of this past summer, I began to realize the end of that relationship was for the best. Now I'm sure I have no feelings for her." Kelley gave Emily a soft smile and looked away quickly when her stomached fluttered from Emily's gaze. With a quick shake of her head, Kelley remembered what she was talking about before.

 

 

"But anyway, I took a gamble and ended up messing up myself and my team dynamic. Sometimes when people date their teammates, it's all romance and serious relationships but other times it's just passion that leads to unrequited love." Kelley looked over at Emily with a sad smile. "But I guess that's lesson learned you know?"

 

Emily nodded along and waited to speak after Kelley paused and the silence surrounded them. "I've never really been in love but I've seen how it can make or break a person. I think that's what makes love have so much power, it's a complete gamble most of the time. Is it worth the risk, ya know? Honestly, thanks for sharing all that with me, I'm sure it wasn't easy."

 

"You sound like a romantic. But yeah, I didn't anticipate telling anyone about all of that, outside of a select few. Talking to you is just easy." Kelley paused as the full weight of what she told Emily seemed to lift off her shoulder. Suddenly Kelley's eyes widened and shut quickly in realization that she did the most un-flirty thing ever.

 

"Oh, this is how you woo a girl. Tell her about your exes." Kelley mumbled quickly to herself and shook her head.

 

"Woo a girl?" Emily nudged her.

 

Kelley threw her hands over her face, "You weren't supposed to hear that!"

 

Emily was smiling brightly now. Kelley had not switched back to her confident self after revealing her past to Emily and Emily was enjoying the bashful Kelley. Emily scooted closer to Kelley and playfully bumped her shoulder with her own. Kelley quickly glanced down at Emily's lips that were slightly red from the cold. Emily caught her eye shift and was pleased to know she was not the only one feeling this way. But Emily's mind went blank as their eyes met. Kelley's breathing hitched and she was sure the surrounding world has stopped. She wasn't sure when she got her confidence back but Kelley began to very slowly lean in.


	8. Unexpected Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost but sometimes great things can only last for a brief amount of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's really short and I really didn't edit (I'm sure there are mistakes in there) it at all but here is the next part. I'll try to post the next chapter before next week! Please don't hate me :)

Kelley's lips lightly brushed Emily's, as if teasing her. Emily's body reacted quickly and pressed their lips more firmly together. Kelley's initial plan was to give Emily a light kiss but all of her cautions were thrown to the wind when her body grew hot. Their kiss intensified as Kelley wrapped her hands into Emily's hair and pulled her closer. Emily grazed her tongue along Kelley's bottom lip. Kelley moaned lightly and parted her lips slightly and Emily took the chance to explore her mouth with her tongue. Emily smiled into the kiss just as Kelley's phone rang startling them both. As they pulled away, both were slightly out of breath. 

 

"Go ahead, we can continue after your phone call." Emily smiled with slightly swollen lips as Kelley glared at her phone. 

 

"Urgh, Jill you have the worst timing!" Kelley yelled at her phone before pressing on the green button.

 

"Hi Coach."

 

Emily tried really hard to not listen in but it was hard because well, Emily kind of wanted to listen because the national team coach was on the other end. 

 

"I'm doing well and I've been healthy. It's been a surprisingly good Thanksgiving actually." Kelley smiled over at Emily as she said this. "Oh, it's okay, I know you have to get these calls out." Kelley paused, "I will look for to the email. Look forward to seeing you in a week, Coach. Bye."

 

Kelley sent Emily and apologetic look as she ended the phone call.

 

"All good, seemed like an important phone call." Emily shrugged and really meant it, she didn't mind that Kelley answered it even if it interrupted what might have been the best moment in her life so far.

 

"You might be too nice. Anyway, we were in the middle of something." Kelley reached up to touch Emily's cheek, noting how soft it was. Emily began to lean in first this time, they were less than a centimeter apart when Emily's phone rang loudly.

 

"For fucks sake!" Emily yelled and quickly covered her mouth. Kelley began to giggle hysterically at Emily's outburst and cursing. "Out of the area?" Emily held her phone, brows furrowed.

 

"Answer it, go ahead." Kelley laughed at lightly shook her head.

 

"Hello?" Emily sounded unsure but her eyebrows quickly shot up which peaked Kelley's interest. "Hi Coach. Yes, this is Emily Sonnett." Emily was freaking out and trying to keep her voice steady. The national team coach that has just talked to Kelley was now on the other end of her phone.

 

"I didn't realize you've been watching my games. Thank you, that means a lot." Jill Ellis was on the other end of the line complimenting Emily on her current playing at school. "I would be very interested, it would be an privilege." Kelley reached for Emily's hand and squeezed it out of excitement because she caught on to how Emily's phone call would end. "I will look out for that email. Thank you for the opportunity, bye."

 

After Emily hung up, she sat there holding Kelley's hand. Kelley did a mini giddy dance as she sat. 

 

"Dude! Did you just get called up to the national team?! Ahhh that's so exciting." Kelley was actually jumping out of her seat while the realization slowly dawned on Emily. 

 

"Holy shit!"

 

"There you go, Em! That's the spirit!" Kelley got up from her seat doing a goofy happy dance but suddenly stopped. As if Emily could read her mind, her face fell a little.

 

"You don't do anything with teammates..." Emily's voice was low and Kelley's face matched Emily's.

 

"I hate that I said that now. Damnit. But I guess it would probably be best if we don't continue what we were just doing . Even if my entire body was on fire without ." Kelley's eyes went wide. "Why did I just admit that?!"

 

Emily smiled at that but her face fell again as she said, "so whatever we have here has to stop?" It was more of a rhetorical question but Kelley lightly nodded her head. "I guess that's for the best since it is my first camp. I should probably focus completely on making a good impression on the coaches."

 

Kelley tried to turn the mood around. She reached for both of Emily's hands and looked into her the eyes, "hey, we can focus on being friends. You'll already be a step ahead of some of the other newbies because you'll have me."

 

"I know Moe too, remember?" Emily joked.

 

"But does she have our wonderful chemistry?" Kelley gave Emily a sideways smile. "Come on", Kelley pulled Emily into a hug. They held on for to each other for longer than normal but to them it felt so brief. The front door creaked open then and Sam peaked her head out. "Am I interrupting" Sam asked and looked between the two in front of her.

 

Kelley let go of Emily and turned to Sam, "Emily just got some good news!"

 

"Do tell!" Sam fully stepped out onto the porch now.

 

Emily sheepishly looked at her feet from the attention, "well, I just got a call from Jill Ellis..." Before she could finish, Sam was jumping onto Emily in a koala hug.

 

"I knew it! You're amazing so it's about time!" Sam started kissing the top of Emily's head.

 

"Alright, alright. I need to call my parents and Emma!" Sam released Emily reluctantly. Kelley sent Emily a wink and grabbed Sam's arm to pull her inside so Emily could make the phone calls.

  

* * *

 

The next morning, Emily and Sam began to pack up stuff so they could head out that afternoon. The night before Emily made the phone calls to her parents and sister who congratulated her but reminded her this was a long time coming. Despite the agreed upon friendship, Kelley and Emily snuggled close that night. Emily was beginning to wonder if all of Kelley's friendship included intense cuddling or if they were just blurring the lines between friendship and something more.

 

Emily was relaxing in the front room of the house talking to Ben when she heard Sam calling for her. Emily made her way up the stairs, slightly sore from this mornings run with Kelley and Sam. She was reaching for the door and as she opened it she saw Sam chilling on the bed.

 

"Why'd you call me..." Just then, Kelley jumped out from behind the door and tackled Emily. Emily let out a high pitches screech that became muffled in with Sam and Kelley's giggles.

 

Sam's mom yelled from downstairs, "Kelley! Sam! Did you just scare Emily?! She's a guest!"

 

"Sorry, mom!" Sam yelled down between giggles. Kelley and Emily were still laying on the floor with their limbs intertwined. Emily started tickling Kelley who wiggled around yelling for truce.

 

"Alright you two, break it up. We have to finish packing." Sam shook her head and began to fold the last of her shirts. An hour later, Sam and Emily were making rounds saying goodbye to everyone and thanking them for having them over. Sam went to the car and Kelley followed Emily out to the front porch to say bye without all of the family around.

 

"I'm really glad I met you." Kelley bumped shoulders with Emily.

 

"Me too." Emily really wasn't the best with goodbyes. 

 

"Since you're going to have questions about what to pack for camp, I'll give you my number." Emily smiled at Kelley's offer, and handed over her phone.

 

"Smooth."

 

"You know it." Kelley returned Emily's phone after filling out her contact info. Emily then put her phone number into Kelley's phone. After Kelley put the phone in her pocket, Kelley pulled her in for a tight hug. "I look forward to seeing you in a week or so." As Kelley pulled away, she gave Emily a light kiss on the cheek that left Emily flushed. 

 

"We both know you'll text me first." Emily said when she walked backwards towards the car. 

 

"You wish." Kelley said Emily a wink.


	9. Hoo Bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily is back at UVA before going off to camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it took a week to get this out. It's really short but I wanted to get something out there. The next chapter will be posted tomorrow!! Philly Pride weekend and So'Hara moment makes for a great weekend :) Again, sorry about the delay and the length!!!

Emily glanced down at her phone and saw the one message and felt a warmth rush over her when she saw Kelley’s name flash over the screen. Sam nudged Emily quickly as she hid her phone away in her pocket to make sure Sam didn’t see who she had been texting.

 

“Dude. Girl at three o’clock. Jeez, she’s undressing you with her eyes! Maybe see where it goes before you forget the normal folk when you go off with the national team next week. Go over there and see what happens. Oh shit, just kidding.”

 

Emily quickly glances at Sam at her odd sentence. “What’s wrong?”

 

“So disregard my previous statement about going over there. She’s on her way over now!” Sam quickly spun in the opposite direction of the approaching girl.

 

“Fuck.” Emily mumbled to herself. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to a girl, well there was one girl she wanted to talk to.

 

“Hey. I’m Kayla” The blonde eyed Emily up and down. Emily was wearing simple black jeans, white-shirt, and leather jacket over the ensemble. All she wanted to wear was blue jeans and an old UVA soccer t-shirt but she knew better than to wear her sports clothing out. The university made them sit through several classes during preseason. An entire class was on the appropriate times to wear university and their athletic clothing, this particular situation would paint the university in a poor light.

 

“Um, hi. Emily.” Emily was caught off guard and felt a little strange visibly being checked out. As Emily extended her hand, she took the time to look at the slender blonde before her. She was pretty enough and wore a silky black tank top and dark skinny jeans. Emily knew she should have felt her heart pick up at the approach of a really attractive but she could only think about the waiting text message on her phone.

 

“Hoos or hokie?”

 

“Hoos. You?” Emily replied maintaining minimal eye contact.

 

“Same, I feel like I’ve seen you around. I’m a senior.” Kayla leaned in towards Emily and lightly brushed her arm.

 

“Uhh maybe. I’m a senior too, I’m a sociology major. Maybe we’ve had a class together?”

 

“Hmmm that’s not it.”

 

“Oh?” was all Emily offered up.

 

“You play soccer don’t you?”

 

“I’m guess I’m guilty of that.” Emily smiled innocently and tried to give off a non-flirty vibe.

 

“I knew it!” Kayla smiled proudly at herself for her discovery.

 

“Yeah…” Emily awkwardly laughed. “Have you seen a game or something?”

 

“I have but I couldn’t help but notice you on the field. You’re really good.” Kayla put a hand on Emily’s arm again and Emily glanced down at it.

 

“Oh wow, thanks. Uhh, my friend just signaled that she wants to head out but I’ll make sure I say hi if I see you at a game.” Emily tried to sound sincere and she did plan to say ‘hi’ to Kayla if she ever ran into her.

 

“Oh. Okay. I look forward to it.” Kayla smiled at Emily as she walked away.

 

As Emily walked away, she pulled Sam by the elbow and dragged her out of the bar. The air was cold and Emily continued to walk as Sam tried to quickly pull on her jacket.

 

“So did you get her number?” Sam asked as she looked eagerly at Emily.

 

“Not quite.”

 

“Why not?! She was so into you. Were you not into her? Are you not telling me something.” Sam looked over at Emily once she caught up to her. Emily crossed her arms in front of her and refused to answer Sam’s question. “Oh my god, you totally like someone!”

 

“Do not!” Emily paused and saw Sam’s eye roll. “Okay, if there was a person. Which I’m not saying there is! But it won’t work out for so many reasons.”

 

“Do tell! Why wouldn’t it work out?” Sam wrapped her arm in Emily’s too keep warm.

 

“She…I just need to focus on the national team right now. In under a week, I will actually get to live out my dream and try to make it officially on the team. I just need to focus on that and can’t afford any distractions.” Emily gave herself a nod at her declaration but couldn’t avoid the fact that her mind wandered to how Kelley’s lips felt against her own.

 

Sam shivered and cuddled closer to Emily. “Soccer has been your whole life. You do realize it’s okay to have more than soccer going on in your life. You deserve it.”

 

Emily gave Sam a sad smile as her words echoed in her thoughts. She wanted to believed what Sam said, she deserved more in her life because soccer has taken the focus but she wasn’t at her goal yet. Emily’s soccer U-13 coach told her that she would have to focus on one thing at a time and to make it in soccer she would have to go all in. Plus, she had seen one too many romantic comedies where they prognostics gives up their dream career to be with their one true love. She was a romantic herself but was able to realize that rom-coms were not an accurate portrayal of the real world.

 

“Earth to Em.”  Emily was brought out of her daydream as Sam waved her arm in front of Emily’s face.

 

“Right. I think it would be best if I focus on one thing at a time until I get my barring’s about my future.”

 

“Urgh.” Sam drew out and stomped a little in response. “Can we not talk about the future? At least yours is somewhat mapped out for you. I graduate in a semester and then what? Adult life?! Hell no.”

 

“Being an adult and acting like one are very different.” Emily smirked at Sam as she snapped out of her pity party.


	10. Airport Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily has just touched down in the Orlando airport for camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for not posting this when I said I would, it's a little longer than the last chapter. My brother got engaged this weekend and then there was pride so I got a little side tracked! I'm currently writing the next chapter so I hope to have it up soonish! My bad for any spelling or grammar mistakes! Also, it's a little easier for me to write shorter chapters so I can post them more often, just an fyi. Hope you guys like it!

While Emily waited in the Orlando airport, she pulled out her phone. The last several days she found a new love of checking her phone repeatedly. Sam seemed to notice over the last week but just assumed Emily had found a new girl to text, little did she know Emily had been texting her cousin. Emily looked down at her most recent text from early this morning from Kelley. She had wished Emily a safe travel day, told her that she would see her later, and included a smiley face emoji that made Emily’s heart rate pick up in excitement. She closed her messager app with a smile and opened her gmail app, the email had instructed her that a van would be picking her up along with several other players. After rereading the email for the fourth time, she still felt extremely nervous and tried to prevent her thoughts from dwelling too long on who she might be sharing a ride with. Emily began to walk towards the baggage claim and hoped she would run into another player so she would feel so lost. _Breathe, it is just soccer. You’ve been playing since you could walk. Focus on where you’re walking, Em! Wait, keep calm._ Emily’s internal dialog continued all the way to the baggage claim and she praised herself for only tripping over her feet twice as she walked.

 

Emily picked up her large duffle bag, mostly filled with soccer clothes, and then she glanced to her left. There was a group of women that stood in a circle with USA duffle bags but Emily was too far away to make out who they were. She approached slowly, trying to relax her nerves. The girl with her back towards Emily shifted slightly revealing the laughing brunette she was talking to. There she was somehow looking beautiful and carefree despite the travel and waking up early, a smile spread across Emily’s face at the sight of Kelley.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Kelley reached for her luggage from the baggage claim and turned to find Alex Morgan with her hands on her hips as she smiled at Kelley.

 

“Alex!” Kelley launched herself towards Alex and wrapping her arms and legs around her in a bear hug.

 

“Jeez, Kel! It’s nice to see you too but I need to be able to breathe.” Alex tried her keep her husky voice stern but couldn’t help laughing a little at her friend’s antics. Kelley slowly released Alex from her tight grip and gave an innocent shoulder shrug. “Thanks. You seem happy.” Alex observed. “Are you feeling better after…” Alex gave a stern look. Kelley nodded and made a note to never cross Alex. She was an amazing friend to have but if you got on the striker’s bad side, you’d regret it immediately. Most of the team was curious to see the dynamic between the star keeper and forward after Hope royally fucked Kelley over and Alex was not letting it go without making it clear that Hope was in the wrong.

 

“I promise I’m good, like actually really good.” Kelley started to smile to herself. Her mind drifted to the fact that she stayed up late almost every night the previous week texting Emily about anything and everything.

“Care to fill us in on what you mean?” Alex turned towards her left and smiled at the dark hair beauty that had joined the conversation.

 

“What’s up, Ali?” Alex asked as Kelley flung herself at on the muscular women.

 

“Hey Alex. Kelley? Need to breathe.”

 

“I told you!” Alex shook her head and Ali looked quizzically towards her and tried to peel Kelley off of herself.

 

“It’s good to see you guys! Now Kelley, can you focus for a minute and fill us in? Who’s making you so happy?” Ali dazzled Kelley with her smile.

 

“Huh? No one. Nope. Nada. Nein.” Kelley avoided eye contact with both Ali and Alex.

 

“Wow Kel, if you’re going to try and lie, at least try to be smooth about it.” Alex folded her arms while Ali laughed whole-heartedly.

 

“Guys, nothing can happen. I mean, there is nothing…”

 

“Uh huh, we’ll get it out of her soon enough.” Alex looked over to Ali who gave a nod of agreement. They turned to look at Kelley.

 

“I’m serious!” Kelley put her hands on her hips and attempted to give them a stern look. Suddenly, Kelley broke out in a brilliant smile that reached her eyes. She could feel her palms start to sweat with nerves as she made eye contact with the blonde who had been staring at her.

 

“What is happening to her?” Ali nudged Alex who turned to look behind her. Alex saw an athletic blonde who had been smiling at Kelley behind her until she noticed Alex’s gaze and froze. She glanced the blonde up and down and noticed her lean-muscular build and began to put together the fact that she was probably a new recruit. Alex turned back to Kelley who avoided making eye contact.

 

Ali seemed take notice of Emily standing a few feet away and raised her eyebrows at Kelley. “Who’s that?” Alex questioned and Ali followed up, “do we know her? Do you?” she pointed towards Kelley.

 

“Um that’s just the new recruit, Emily.” Kelley tried to sound casual but knew she was doing an awful job. “Okay, so I do know her. Sam, my cousin, is actually really good friends with her from UVA and brought her to Thanksgiving… So yeah.” Alex stared Kelley down while Ali smiled at Kelley stumbling over her words.

 

“Sure. How about you actually tell her to come over so she doesn’t look so scared?” Alex nudged Kelley.

 

“You might be scaring her with your stare down. But right, Emily!” Kelley yelled over to the frozen blonde. She smiled at just saying Emily’s name. Kelley’s acknowledgment of Emily made her smile and she began to approach the group of girls. Emily’s mouth went dry initially when she saw who Kelley was standing with. Ali Krieger and Alex Morgan. She knew that despite having looked up to them, they were just normal people like Kelley. The reason Emily froze was the look Alex had been giving her, Emily knew from experience what it was like to have a girl size you up. Ali on the other hand, looked back and forth between Kelley and Emily and a smile spread over Ali’s lips. _Well, at least that was a welcoming sign._ Emily thought as she walked towards the group.

 

Kelley resisted the urge to hug Emily because she knew she had to play it cool because Alex and Ali seemed to pick up that Kelley and Emily had a slightly different dynamic than a normal friendship. “Em, I hope you had a good flight!” She tried hard to keep from looking deeply into Emily’s eyes. “This is Alex and Ali. Alex, Ali, this is Emily Sonnett. The new youngster.” Ali reacted first by hugging Emily and told her how excited she was to have her join the camp. Alex went with a more reserved hand shake but still greeted her with a general excitement. A new person at camp brought a level of anticipation and liveliness because those on the roster knew they had to continue to play well in order to stay.

 

“Thanks, I’m really excited to be here.” Emily smiled and tried to remember to just be herself. She attempted to mainly look at Ali and Alex as they talked to her but Emily couldn’t help looking at Kelley every few seconds. Even though it had only been a week since she saw Kelley back in Virginia, she had impatiently waited until she could see her again. If Emily didn’t know any better, she could have sworn that Kelley was just as excited to see her as she had been.

 

“I think Ash is waiting for us in the van but we’re still waiting for one more.” Ali began to type in her phone when Emily suddenly felt a person jump on her back and fold their hands around her eyes.

 

“What?! What is going on?!” Emily yelled which drew attention from several passengers as they walked past. The person on her back leapt off and jumped in front of her. “Moe! Ah!” Emily might have squealed but she would deny it is anyone said that.

 

“I was so excited when I saw your name on the email!” Morgan Brian began hoping around in front of Emily. “It’s going to be like college all over again, I hope you’re my roommate!”

 

“What about us Georgia girls sticking together, Bean?” Kelley put her hands on her hips and fake pouted at Moe. Emily could hear Alex mumble “oh brother.”

 

“Kel, Emily is from Georgia so technically it’s still Georgia girls sticking together…”

“Woah, hold the phone. How did I not know you were from Georgia?!” Kelley playfully punched Emily in the arm.

 

Ali interrupted the reunion. “Guys, Ash is waiting. You can continue this southern bonding fest in the van.” Ali began to lead them towards the airport exit with Alex next to her.

 

Kelley slung her arm over Emily to her left and Moe to her right, “We have our own posse now. We can be the Georgia peaches! That has a nice ring to it, right?!”

 

“You two know each other?” Moe innocently asked oblivious to the look Emily and Kelley had just shared.


	11. The Past and The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of training is underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So I was in Canada for pride and then at the Sky Blue game last night and haven't had much time to post/write. I'm trying to slowly make the chapters longer. My plan is to post once a week and maybe more if I'm feeling crazy (AKA a week where I spend a lot of time at my apartment instead of being social). Anyway, here it is! Sorry for spelling and grammar.

Kelley lounged on a couch off to the side in the hotel lobby. The team was in between training sessions and the hotel was in between check in and check out, which left the lobby deserted. At the moment, she just wanted to hang out with Emily and find out how her first session went. But she knew it would draw more curious glances from Ali and warning looks from Alex so she thought removing herself for an hour might help. She had only beaten one level of her bubble game on her phone when a shadow covered her.

 

“Mind if I sit?” The tall, muscular, and beautiful goal keeper stood over her with her black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Kelley looked up into Hope’s dark brown eyes and was surprised she did not feel the flutter in her stomach she had felt just a few months prior.

 

Kelley shifted her outstretched legs off of the couch as a nonverbal way of inviting Hope to sit down. She wasn’t quite sure if she had anything to say to Hope.

 

“You seem good.” Hope glanced over at Kelley. She wasn’t sure why but Kelley let out a bitter laugh at Hope’s comment. As much as she wanted to be completely over it, Kelley still felt embarrassed at herself for getting involved with Hope when she knew it would not end well.

 

“Er...sorry. Thanks. So you do.” Kelley kept her sentences short. When she was stressed in a situation, she typically handled it with two extremes of the spectrum. She would either remain entirely quiet or talk endlessly. At that particular moment, Kelley put a lot of effort into a small, calm response to Hope.

 

“So let’s get the shit out there.”

 

“So nicely put, Hope.” Kelley’s snarky response surprised them both. Both Kelley and Hope knew that Kelley became more submissive and passive when the pair was together.

 

“Angsty. Aren’t we a bit old for that?” Hope tried to establish a dominance in the conversation. Kelley could never understand why Hope felt a need to constantly be in a power situation. She knew that Hope’s home life wasn’t great growing up but she thought after the time they shared, that Hope would try to keep things equal.

 

“Whatever. You wanted to talk about the relationship. Or whatever the hell it was.” Breathe, Kelley thought to herself. Moments like this made her question if she was 100% over the situation. Kelley knew she was over Hope but that didn’t mean she wasn’t bitter about being left for a guy.

 

“Still snippy I see.” Hope smirked, Kelley wasn’t sure if the comment was said to relieve tension or get a rise out of her.

 

“Come on, I don’t have all day.”

 

“Jeez, Kel. Fine. I’ll give you’re the obvious run down of the situation. It was really fun when we were fooling around but then I met a guy I could settle with and the fooling around needed to stop. Most girls go through a period when they experiment with their sexuality. But it wasn’t as fun anymore once I knew I met someone serious.”

 

Kelley retorted, “seriously?! That’s how you word it? You realized calling it an experiment belittles any person that doesn’t identify as straight.” Not only that, Kelley felt a mixture of hurt and anger because Hope had jump implied that she was not someone to settle down with. Was this because I’m a women or that I’m not worth settling down with, Kelley’s thoughts began to fire off.

 

“I get it. I have a big mouth. The media just ‘loves’ what I have to say but women who stay quiet, get stepped on.” Kelley wanted to interject there. Yes, Hope was trying to make change with the federation due to the pay gap but she also had the tendency to say too much on the field. In other words, she had a tendency to forget the basic fundamentals of sportsmanship. She also made comments that could divide the team and had in the past. “In other words, I do what I want, when I want it. But you know what, look where I am in my life. Many would call it selfish but I know what I want and when I don’t want it anymore, I stop doing it.” The words cut through Kelley when it dawned on her that she actually was just a small chapter in Hope’s life.

 

“You know, Hope, you can be a real bitch sometimes.” Kelley shook her head in disbelief.

 

“Most people might agree with you on that one and but you knew going into this.” Hope waved her hands between them. “Some people can’t handle it, so just deal with it.” She stood up and looked down in pity towards Kelley.

 

Anger rose in Kelley; she did not want to be pitied. Kelley got the message loud and clear, Hope essentially told her to fuck off. Whether the conversation was at its natural end or not, Kelley did not want to stay and find out. She got up swiftly and walked towards the elevator.

 

Kelley leaned against the elevator wall after she pressed the button for her floor. The anger she felt in the bit of her stomach reminded her of the feeling after a bad loss to a rival team. She wanted to laugh at herself because everyone always looked at her as the always ‘up’ person. Kelley only allowed a few of her teammates to see her when she was feeling down or angry. Generally, she was happy and loved joking around but when angry or sadness hit her, it hit her hard but she could usually shake it off with a few minutes to herself.

 

She sighed once she got off the elevator and knew she just needed 10 minutes to reset herself and she would be as good as new. Kelley did not plan to run into a teammate, literally. She bent down to pick up her teammates fallen phone and looked up to meet eyes with Emily. Kelley’s angry went away instantaneously.

 

“We really have to stop meeting like this.” Emily joked and gave Kelley a half smile that made her stomach flutter a little.

 

“I secretly think you plan these run ins.” Kelley playfully punched Emily’s arm.

 

Emily smiled at the brief contact, “I like to think it’s good timing.”

 

“Where are you headed? Want to come back to my room?” Kelley offered. Emily raised her eyebrows at the possible meaning and Kelley quickly followed up. “I mean to talk about your first training session! Duh.”

 

Emily began to chuckle but nodded her head in agreement. Kelley led the way to the room she shared with Ali. As she put the access key into the door, Kelley said a little prayer that Ali was out somewhere. With no luck, Emily and Kelley were greeted by not only Ali but Ashlyn as well. “Shit.” Kelley mumbled under her breathe for only her to hear.

 

“Kelley where have you been hiding?” Ash asked the minute she saw her. Once Emily walked up, Ashlyn’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Oh, I see.” Ali giggled at Ash’s comment, it was clear that Ali told Ash about her suspicions at the airport. Emily began to immediately blush at the implication of Ash’s comment.

 

“Urgh, dude we ran into each other in the hallway a minute ago.” Kelley tried to sound casual and threw a pillow at Ashlyn for good measure. “Should I assume a majority of your time will be spent in our room?” Kelley asked Ash and glanced between her and Ali. Emily’s eyes went wide as she realized what Kelley implied about the two teammates. So the rumors are true, Emily thought. Even though Emily wasn’t big on social media, she had heard that Tumblr and even YouTube blogs and videos were made at ‘shipping” the two.

 

Ashlyn wrapped her arm around Ali’s waste, they were sitting comfortably prompted up on the bed. “Duh.” Ali said.

 

“Right!” Ashlyn jumped up and walked towards Emily. “I know you got introduced to the almost everyone today at the morning session but I’m Ashlyn Harris. I’ll be the one of the one’s commanding you in the backline in practice.” She smiled proudly, goal keepers had a tendency to be confident which was no surprise considering the importance of their position.

 

“Emily Sonnett.” Emily offered out her hand, she still felt a little star struck.

 

“How’s your first session go? Ready for part 2? I hope you ate properly for lunch.” Ashlyn seemed genuinely interested and eager that Emily was with them at camp. But before Emily had a chance to answer, Ali had gotten off the bed and put her hand in Ash’s and dragged her towards the door.

 

“Come on babe, I think they were planning to talk.” Ali sent a wink towards Kelley and a confused Ashlyn looked back.

 

“But I was talking…” Ali gave Ash a look. “Uh...bye. Nice to meet you Em!” The door closed behind the two and Kelley gave Emily an apologetic look.

 

“Ali can be a little too nice at times.” Despite the fact that Kelley was shaking her head, she smiled to herself at her friend’s antics.

 

Kelley sprinted towards her bed and leapt onto it, landing on her back with her arms already behind her head on the pillow.  Emily walked over laughing at Kelley, “just how many times have you practiced that?”

 

“A few.” Kelley patted the spot next to her on the queen bed. Emily decided to sit close to Kelley but still allowed a few inches because she would not be able to focus if she sat too close. “So Sonny, tell me about your first session.” Kelley glanced over once Emily got settled.

 

“You were there! In fact, you were in my drill line for most of it.”

 

“I want to know how you felt during it. How were your nerves? Did you feel comfortable with the exertion level? That stuff.” Kelley looked at Emily with the sincerest gaze.

 

Emily proceeded to tell Kelley all about the first session. Throughout their conversation, both drifted closer to each other without knowing. By the end of the conversation, Emily felt so much better having someone to talk about her nerves. Soon both women realized their entire sides were pressed together. Kelley’s eyes seemed to take on a hint of lust and Emily knew hers must mirror Kelley’s. Kelley propped herself up, with her back of the mattress and elbows behind her. She looked over at Emily and Emily’s breathe caught. Before either could act of the feeling, there was a knock on the door.

 

“Kelley?” They could hear Moe’s voice and Moe did not hesitate and opened the door. “Have you seen Em?” Moe rounded the corner to find them the two as they laid very close together. She was oblivious to Kelley’s slightly annoyed glance at the interruption and Emily’s wide, guilty eyes of what might have happened if Moe had not appeared.

 

“Oh! You’re both here! That was easy. The peaches are together.” Moe left onto the bed and nudged herself between the two. “So what are you guys up to?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The girls had just broken off of their post practice huddle and began to collect their bags and stretch before they got on the vans to go back to the hotel. Emily’s stuff was already in a pile so she took the time to stretch out her calves and hamstrings. She sat down on the warm turf and stretched out her left leg and bent her right into her body. After a few seconds, she began to look around at her new teammates. She had met nearly everyone at this point, even counting the brief introductions that only covered names. Even though it was her first day, she could begin to make out some of the groupings. Emily started to watch Tobin run between players as she tried to meg as many players as she could. Ever few megs, Tobin would look back towards Christen and try to get a smile or laugh from her. Emily had counted up to seven megs before she noticed someone sit next to her.

 

Alex sat down next to Emily after the second session on first day of practice and started to play with the turf. “Can I offer some advice?”

 

Emily glanced over, surprised by the veterans offer, “Totally.”

 

“Focus on soccer.” Alex paused when Emily gave her a confused but held up her hand. “Hear me out. We have a solid back line and Broon isn’t going anywhere any time soon but you could honestly be the next Becky.” Emily was both shocked and honored by what Alex had said to her. “But Sonnett, here’s the thing. You can’t lose focus with other people. When I first got called to join camp, I dated this guy and I started to lose focus. My touches were landing too far, my shots hit the post, and somehow even my beep test suffered. Eventually I realized if I wanted to secure a spot on the team, I could only do it if I was single.” Alex swayed her hands from side to side as if to brush away the flashback. “What I’m saying is that it was hard enough to be interested and date someone off the team. So dating or liking someone on the team would have a much larger effect on your playing.”

 

“Uh Alex, thanks for the advice. I mean it but…”

 

“Sonnett, she might like you back but this team needs you focused on your playing. We need the best defense for this coming world cup. Plus, said teammate should not date another teammate because the dynamic is strained enough. I like you but you don’t want to get on my bad side Sonny.” Alex brushed on the black turf pellets pieces off of her hand and stood up in a swift motion. Alex started to walk away but turned as she walked backwards and asked, “we good?” Emily sat still but turned her head towards Alex and gave a brief nod.

 

Emily let out a sign and rolled back onto to turf. She had been receiving a lot of conflicting advice lately between what Alex had just said and what Sam told her a week ago. Alex gave warning to not act on her feelings and focus solely on soccer. Meanwhile Sam try to convey that there was more to life than soccer and maybe it was time to take a chance with her love life. Grant it, Sam did not realize she had been advising her best friend to pursue her cousin. Emily lay there and wondering if she should listen to the person who knew from experience how to reach her lifelong dream or the person that knew her as more than a soccer player. She sat back up and grabbed the soccer ball next to her with her hands. Emily glanced up to look across the field and saw Kelley look over from her conversation and offered a warm smile. She smiled back at Kelley who then returned to her conversation and Emily glanced down at the ball in her hands. Sooner or later, she would have to decide.


	12. Facetime Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily tries to weight the conflicting advice she received from Alex and Sam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'm really sorry about the two week gap. Sometimes my mental health goes through periods where it can be worse than normal. I'm just relieved I managed to write this haha so I hope you guys enjoy it. My apologies about grammar mistakes and typos (the last chapter had a lot :( oops)

“Oh! Heads Up, Seven Up!” Several of the girls shook their heads and looked over at Moe as they laughed at her outburst. Their team bonding night was underway.

 

“Well, we’re not in elementary school so can I veto that?” Christen glanced over at Becky to confirm the veto.

 

“Agreed. Good try though, Moe. Can someone think of another game?” Becky patted Morgan on the shoulder to let her know she appreciated the thought. Anyone could tell Becky and Carli were the captains even off the field. It was only two days into camp and Emily had picked up on the fact that they interacted with every group and made sure to talk to each individual. On more than one occasion, the senior members offered advice on how to advance her play and her improvement showed right away. Emily hung on every word of advice she received from Becky. She had grown up watching the captain lead the national team defense and even followed the WPS before it folded. Becky Sauerbrunn was partially why Emily looked at attending UVA as well. All of her soccer friend dreamt of going to UNC Chapel Hill to follow Mia and Abby’s footsteps or out West to the Stanford power house. Emily liked the idea of going to those two school but had reservations about leaving Georgia until Virginia expressed interest. She was so thankful for attending UVA because it helped her reach the level she was at now and the main reason she sat in the room with some the best in the nation.

 

Even in a large hotel room, the 23 girls filled the room past capacity. Emily she finished chatting with Crystal and moved the couch next to the window and sat between Morgan and Lindsay. Emily began to settle into a grouping the rest of the team referred to as the new kids but she felt like the baby of the new kids due to her lack of experience on the nation team. Even though she had only been there two days, she felt like an actual member of the team.

 

“Sonny!” Emily glanced up from her phone towards Lindsay who had her own phone at the ready and took a snapchat selfie.  

 

“Uh…guys. Why?” She grumbled and glanced over Lindsay’s shoulder to look at the picture. The picture of Lindsay’s screen showed a smiling Lindsay, a surprised Emily, and Morgan with a goofy face next to her shoulder. “Even surprised, I look fantastic.” Emily joked which caused Moe to let out a cackle of a laugh that caught the attention of the women on the bed across from them.

 

Alex raised an eyebrow at Moe’s reaction, Tobin just shook her head, and Kelley, who sat in between the two, smirked over at the trio. Emily tried hard to ignore the slight warmth that grew in her stomach and only allowed herself to give Kelley a small smile. Emily had to constantly remind herself of Alex’s advice from yesterday but it became harder to keep in mind with each passing second she spent with Kelley. She made a mental note to call Sam later because she needed to speak to someone who could remove soccer from the equation.

 

* * *

 

Kelley loved camps, even though she was not the biggest fan of travel days that were mostly spent on planes and airports. But all of that negatives where forgotten when she got to play with her national team and see some of her best friends. With Tobin to her right and Alex to her left, she felt so at home. The fact that she could simply look up and see Emily also helped. There was something about Emily that made Kelley feel completely comfortable and relaxed, like they had been friends for years. But there was also this effect that Emily had on her that made her feel jittery and excited like when you feel the caffeine kick in after a large cup of coffee.

 

Kelley found herself smiling way more at this camp than she used to and some took notice. She could occasionally feel Alex’s eyes on her as if to keep track of where she was emotionally, trying to protect her. Then there was Ali and Ash who always seemed to catch her when she smiled to herself, and they would exchange a look and grin over at her. Tobin and Christen were thankfully completely oblivious, swept away in their own romance which they thought no one noticed. They honestly felt sneaky and believed no one saw Tobin when she played with the end of Christen’s ponytail or when Chris would find some not-so-accidental way of brushing against Tobin when they walked. They were so cute in their secret relationship that Kelley originally resented it when she had been heartbroken. As of late, Kelley couldn’t help but smile at their lack of subtlety and Christen’s sporadic remarks about romance to her. In time, Kelley knew that they would start to tell their friends, but until then, she would continue to act oblivious.

 

“I’ve got it!” All attention in the room turned towards Heather O'Reilly. “Heads up!”

 

“Yass, HAO” Kelley drew out.

 

“Right, KO?”

 

“Well now that the Irish sisters have agreed, do we really have a choice?” Tobin joked sarcastically.

 

Within a minute, someone’s phone was up against HAO’s forehead showing the word ‘monkey’ and several of her teammates were jumping up and down making animal noises. They took turns acting out and guessing and before they realized it, it was curfew. Emily sighed with a mixture of relief because her abs were sore from laughing and disappointment that the night was over.

 

Emily walked out with Moe, Ali, and Kelley because their rooms were at the end of the hall towards the left and the rest of the team was spread out in rooms towards the right. Moe and Ali joked around about something that happened during the World Cup in Canada. In any other circumstance Emily would want pay close attention to any mention of their World Cup journey, but right now her focus was elsewhere. Kelley had looped her arm though Emily’s and leaned her head on her shoulder. Emily tried hard to steady her heartrate because she was sure it was loud enough for the other girls to hear. She tried to think logically to calm herself down--Kelley was like this with everyone and there was nothing special about the fact she was so close that Emily could smell her shampoo. Except it wasn’t, Kelley had plotted an innocent way to get in contact with Emily and hoped Emily felt the sparks from the contact just as she did. They both felt the disappointment when they reached Ali and Kelley’s room, two rooms away from Morgan and Emily’s.

 

“Good night, guys!” Ali beamed over towards Morgan and Emily. They returned the farewell. There were only a select few people that seemed that genuine like Ali, and Emily could see why people were drawn towards her.  Ali began to slid her key into the door, turned the handle, and paused as she waited for Kelley to follow.

 

“Right! Uh, goodnight dudes.”

 

“Night, Kelley!” Moe turned to start walking towards the room.

 

“Goodnight, Kel.” Emily smiled back. The pair stared at each other for a few seconds before Ali cleared her throat and smirked at the two. Emily quickly turned in hopes neither would notice her sudden blush and jogged lightly over to Moe who was waiting at their door for her.

 

“So strange.” Moe looked over at Emily.

 

Emily’s eye got large, worried what Morgan might have noticed, “what’s strange?”

 

“Kelley seemed flustered. It’s weird, she’s always so confident. Must be tired from the day.”

 

Emily’s mind began to reel at the thought that Kelley might have been flustered to say goodnight. “That must be it.” Emily said as she focused to open the door to the hotel room.

 

Moe headed towards the bathroom to get ready for bed and Emily sat on her bed leaning against the headboard. She pulled out her phone.

 

_Em: Dude, you awake?_

_Sam: It’s like 10pm, of course I’m awake._

_Em: You’re a grandma and go to bed at 9 so it’s not out of the question…_

_Sam: Haters gonna hate. Plus, I need my beauty sleep, it’s hard work to look this good._

_Em: Uh huh and so modest. Anyway, can we facetime?_

_Sam: I’m the whole package but sure! Give me five minutes._

 

Emily pulled out her laptop from her backpack next to the bed. She glanced down at her school bag and shook her head. The amount of things that could accumulate in a backpack during the semester always astounded her. She couldn’t even remember where she got a slinky during the fall but there it was, all tangled with a scrap piece of paper.

 

Within the minute she opened her laptop, the FaceTime request popped up. Sam’s makeup free face showed on the screen, her dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and she was wearing a tight gray tank top. Emily was always a little jealous of Sam actually looking great with no effort. Must run in the family, Emily thought. With that, Emily remembered why she wanted to talk to Sam.

 

Sam’s voice sounded through her laptop speaker. “So where’s the fire? Is this about the camp?”

 

“Er, yes and no. I’ve just been thinking a lot since I got here and just need to talk it out with someone.”

 

“Wait. Is everything okay?” Sam sat up straighter at Emily’s previous comment and a look of concern washed over her face.

 

“Oh! Yeah, nothing too serious.” Emily replied quickly when she heard Moe start to turn the knob to leave the bathroom.

 

“Is that your roommate? Which famous soccer star is it?” Despite the fact that Sam pretended to not care as much about soccer, Emily knew that she followed the NWSL and MLS.

 

“Oh phew, I thought you were talking to yourself! Who are you facetiming with?” Moe wandered over towards the bed.

 

_“Hey wait! I know that voice. Morgan?”_ Sam’s voiced sounded through the speakers. Moe turned her head quickly towards the Emily’s laptop.

 

“Ah no, way! It’s been a while. How are you?” Emily scooted over so Moe could fit into the screen.

 

“Great! I saw you kicking butt at the world cup. Planning to graduate anytime soon?” Sam laughed at her own joke.

 

Moe laughed as well. “I just love Charlottesville so much so why leave?”

 

Sam gave a nod of approval, “fair enough.”

“Why do I always forget you guys know each other.” Emily noted that Sam was connected to pretty much everyone somehow.

 

“We met in the public health class like two years ago. Moe and I have been bros since before you.” Emily rolled her eyes and Morgan nodded besides her. Sam started up again, “so how’s camp? You guys are probably exhausted. How’s my cousin?”

“Great!” Emily said the same time Morgan looked over confused and asked, “cousin?”

 

“Kelley.” Sam paused since she noticed Morgan’s confused face _._ “Kelley O’Hara. Our mom’s our sisters therefore…cousins.”

 

“Oh my god, mind blown.” Morgan expanded her fist next to her temple to mimic an explosion.

 

“Glad I’m not the only one finding this out so late into knowing her.” Emily looked towards Sam on the computer screen with narrowed eyes.

 

“Oh, oh! This is making sense, that’s how you know her. That explains why y’all are so friendly.” Sam raised her eyebrows at that. “Anyway, sorry for crashing your Facetime, I’m going to head to bed. Night, Sam!” Morgan said towards the screen.

 

“I’ll just be out in the hall, I won’t be long. Night, Moe.” Emily started to get up and head towards the door.

 

“Don’t get caught by one of the coaches, curfew is official in five.” Emily gave Morgan the thumbs up to let her know she would take the warning seriously.

 

Once outside in the hallway, Emily positioned herself against the deep window sill so her focus was on her laptop but she could still see the city outline.

 

Sam spoke up first. “Friendly?”

 

“Hmm?” was all Emily offered.

 

“Are you trying to play innocent? I’m not letting this pass; we’ll talk about it after you finish telling me why you wanted to talk.”

Emily held her breathe a little, not sure where to start because a majority of the reason she was calling Sam was to figure out what to do about her feelings towards Kelley. “I know you won’t let me off that easy. Okay, so do you remember our conversation last week about realizing there is more to life than soccer.”

 

“Yeah, you can want more to life than playing soccer. Is this about a girl?” Sam leaned forward so Emily could clearly see the eagerness on her face.

 

“Um, partially. What if pursuing this person can potentially impact my playing? If it works, then I’m pretty sure my playing will get better but if it doesn’t work then I might lose focus which would cost me my spot.”

 

“Not going to lie, I’m kind of confused as to how this girl would impact your soccer so much.”

 

“I had a teammate tell me to remain focused because in order to secure my spot, soccer should be my priority right now.” Emily tried to explain without giving too much away.

 

Sam seemed to weigh what Emily said, she tilted her head from side to side as she tried to figure out the best way to respond. “She might not be wrong. I just think the way relationships work and impact a person are pretty individualized. There are some people that let new relationships consume them and they shut the world out and then there are some that are obviously happier but able to maintain the focus on the world outside of their relationship.”

“That’s true. I guess I’ve never really been in an actual relationship, only dating. But I’m getting ahead of myself, I can’t even be sure this is what the other person wants. There could just be chemistry that isn’t supposed to form anything more. Plus, shouldn’t I be solely focused on my career? Hell, we graduate in a few months and I want to be able to tell people that I have a plan which would hopefully be soccer.”

 

“Well I guess I’ll leave you with this. If soccer doesn’t work, not saying it will, because I’m positive you’ll get drafted to an amazing team, but say it doesn’t work out. What will you be left with? What will you do to fill your time and who would you fill it with? Soccer might be everything now but it might not always be that case, ya know? And remember that it’s okay to now know.” Sam gave Emily a smile when she finished with her advice.

 

“Damn, that was deep. Sorry, I’ll be serious, thank you. I think you just narrowed down my focus on what I need to think about. How did I get such a smart friend?!”

 

“I’m a gift, what can I say? But seriously if you need to talk anymore, let me know. Love you, Em.”

 

After short goodbyes, Emily closed her laptop and glanced out the window.

 

“You should really listen to her advice.” Emily jumped at the voice behind her which caused her to fall off the window ledge. She caught herself and looked up to the see Kelley.

****


	13. Good News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title kind of explains the chapter pretty well!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since we won't be getting any So'Hara moments for ToN, I figured I'd post a longer chapter today! I hope you guys like it :) As always, there are probably going to be spelling and grammar mistakes so my bad! Hope y'all like it! ;)

“Shit.” Emily let out a small squeal as she began to fall off the window ledge. Kelley took five quick strides over and reached her arms out to catch Emily.

 

“Jeez, Em.” Kelley let out a light laugh. Her arms were wrapped around the frazzled Emily.

 

“So, um, how much did you hear?” Emily was acutely aware of Kelley’s arms around her. She didn’t even realize that she actually snuggled closer to Kelley.

 

“Are you not going to thank me for my amazing and somewhat romantic catch?” Kelley smiled down at Emily. They were so close to each other. Emily could make out every freckle on Kelley’s face and Kelley could see the could see every shade of blue that Emily’s eyes held.

 

“Why thank you my fair maiden.” Kelley flourished her wrist and lightly bowed her head at Emily’s thanks.

 

“But actually… how much did you hear?”

 

“Alright, no fun. Fine, I guess I’ll answer your question.” Kelley looked over at Emily with a mock pouting face. She begrudgingly removed her arms from Emily and stood up. Kelley extended her hand, offering Emily help. She took Kelley’s outstretched hand and pulled herself up. Kelley began to pull Emily with their interlocked hands so her back was against the hotel wall and Emily was standing just a foot in front of her. Once they stood there for a moment, Emily assumed that Kelley would have let go of her hand but she held onto it tightly and Emily tried to hide the smile that threatened her lips.

 

“My cousin gives really great advice.”

 

“You heard most of it then, huh?”

 

“I was on my way back from getting ice. I promise I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I heard you talking about your feelings and I kind of wanted to know what you thought.” Kelley looked down and felt the guilt wash over her.

 

Emily put her hand under Kelley’s chin to pull her gaze back. “Hey, I don’t care. Honest.”

 

“I understand if you want to focus on your goals.” Kelley’s voice was quiet.

 

“But I can have more in life than my career goals.” Kelley looked into Emily’s eyes at her comment as she tried to gauge where Emily’s train of thought was going. “I’ve decided that there can be more things in my life that make me happy than just soccer alone.”

 

Kelley seemed to gain confidence and smirked at Emily from her confession. “Oh yeah? I think I can help with that.”

 

“Do you?” Emily began to ease closer to Kelley. “Seems like you’ve already started.” Kelley pulled Emily closer so their bodies were pressed against each other. “I thought teammates were off limits?” Emily teased a little, their lips only an inch apart now.

 

“Um…” Kelley was at a loss for words. Each time she got this close to Emily, the feeling seemed to have a greater effect on her. In the past Kelley had usually been the confident one in her relationships. She knew exactly how to get the girl and what to say at all the right moments. But with Emily, she felt lighter and was often flustered.

 

“Do I actually make Kelley O’Hara nervous?” Emily smiled and bit her bottom lip. Although Kelley couldn’t find her words, she knew what she wanted and began to close to the distance. Their lips were only millimeters apart when they heard the footsteps. Both girls jumped, snapping back to reality. Moe’s warning about the coaches patrolling the hallways rang in her head. Kelley’s eyes shot open wide. With just eye contact, they made a mutual agreement to split off towards their rooms.

  
“To be continued.” Kelley said with a wink before she disappeared into her hotel room.

 

Emily quickly grabbed her laptop from the windowsill and rushed into the room. She closed the door quickly and leaned against the back of the door. With a long exhale, Emily closed her eyes and smiled to herself.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“I couldn’t talk to Alex about this because she would just give me a look and tell me to drop it.” Kelley let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the edge of her bed.

 

“Fair enough, I’ll try not to be hurt that I’m second choice.” Christen laughed lightly to let Kelley know she was joking.

 

“You just seem occupied with…um things.” Kelley tried to recover from the near slip up in acknowledging Christen and Tobin’s secret relationship. Christen raised her eyebrows but kept quiet in hopes that Kelley had implied something else. “So anyway, we have known each other for a while so you know me at this point.”

 

Christen hesitated and waited for Kelley to continue. Once she realized Kelley was waiting for her response, she sat down next to Kelley on the bed. “Where are you going with this?”

 

“I might have feelings for someone but I can’t tell if it’s just physical attraction or something more.” Kelley blurted out the comment so fast that the words nearly slurred together. “Okay, I know it’s more than just a physical attraction but that’s kind of scary to think about.”

 

“You’re trying to tell me you like Sonnett, right?” Christen cross her arms and turned towards Kelley with a smirk on her face.

 

“Who? Em?” Kelley let out a nervous laugh. “I never said it was Sonnett.” She paused and glanced over towards Christen, who sat patiently waiting for her to continue. “Okay, so it might be Em. How did you know?!”

 

“Okay, Kel. I’ve known you for years now. I know you well enough to know when you’re crushing on someone and when you actually have feelings. Plus, you’ve been extra goofy when she’s around, always trying to get her attention, or make her smile. It’s quite endearing.” Christen unfolded her arms, propped her elbows on her knees with her face in her hands, as she watched her friend pace the room. Kelley had a tendency to move around when she needed to think a problem through. Christen was sure Kelley’s college room had a worn walking strip in the carpet.

 

“Is this worth it? Team romances rarely are. She’s younger than us. Which means I probably shouldn’t try anything. There is also the fact that she’s a newbie on the team.  But there is also the fact that she makes me feel happier than I have in years and I could stare into her eyes for hours. Oh, she’s also really funny, sometimes even goofier than me.” Kelley was smiling by the end of her thought.

 

“Seems like you already have your mind made up. Forget about the fact that she is on our team. Sure, you had a bad run with Hope but I have a feeling Hope is just generally hard to be in a relationship with. Emily really seems genuine so I don’t think you would run into a similar problem. But there are success stories on team romances. Look at Ali and Ash.”

 

“Or you and Tobin.” Kelley put both of her hands on her mouth, clearly in shock she just said that out loud.

 

Christen’s face fell out of her hands and she tried to keep her face in check, unsuccessfully though. Her face gave way to a micro expression, an unconscious grin that appeared at the mention of Tobin’s name. “Let’s not bring Toby into this…”

 

“Ah ha! The fact that she even lets you call her that is enough evidence that there is something going on.” Kelley stopped pacing and smiled over at her friend. “I’ll stop grilling you, I have to save it for another time when you’re actually ready to talk about it.”

 

Relief washed over Christen’s face, she was so in love with the midfielder but enjoyed the fact that they were in their own little word. “Thanks, but do you want to talk about the Sonnett situation anymore? Seems like you kind of talked it out by yourself and I was just a witness that nodded their head at the right times.”

 

Kelley lunged towards Christen in a surprise tackle hug. The forward was used to the behavior and despite the fact she pretended to be annoyed, she really loved it.

 

 

* * *

 

  

Three more days passed in camp and Kelley and Emily never seemed to get a minute alone. Instead, they passed longing glances that Press pretended to not see just as Kelley pretended to not see her romance. Finally, the day leading to the last few days of camp, Kelley and Emily were able to escape on an off afternoon. Shortly after they settled on a bench in along a California beach, Kelley glanced over towards Emily.

 

“What would you do if you didn’t play?” Kelley leaned back on the bench outside that overlooked the ocean. The sun has begun to set over the horizon which caused Kelley’s hair to glow, making it appear almost auburn. Emily looked over at Kelley and it felt like she was staring at the sun, so beautiful that it almost hurt.

 

“Since I majored in sociology, something with that. I’m not really sure, which kind of scares me to be honest. Do you know what you would do?”

 

Kelley swayed her head side to side as she thought. “I love being outside, my college major was essentially environmental science and engineering. I think I would join an environmental protection agency. Or become an environmental scientist and go to different locations to test samples to see what state the ecosystem is in. What?”

 

Emily was caught off guard, she had intently listened to what Kelley had said but was smiling at the way her eyes lit up when she talked about possible careers. “Nothing, just seems like you are really passionate about this. Not to belittle it, but it’s kind of hot when you get really excited about a topic.”

 

Kelley gave Emily a bright smile and joked, “I’m always hot. But thanks, I really am interested in it and will still read articles pertaining to environmental science. Don’t get me wrong, I love soccer and would not change that path that I have paved but it’s nice knowing a general idea of what to do besides coaching when I retire.” Kelley stopped and glanced over towards Emily, who watched the ocean before her with a perplexed look on her face. She caught herself staring at Emily’s jaw line and furrowed brows, _how was it possible for someone to be this cute while deep in thought_ , she thought.

 

Emily glanced over, “I liked learning about the way people think and the structure of different societies. I think I went into college unsure and then turned out I really like sociology and always planned to change society for the better in some way. I know it’s a big feat, but even changing one person in a positive way could make a society just a tiny bit better.” Kelley stared intently at Emily; she enjoyed her goofy side but always really liked the serious side of Emily too. “Maybe social work, but those workers tend to only last so long in those positions. So I guess a guidance counselor. If I had to, I would go into some sort of HR or marketing.” Emily scrunched her face at her last sentence. She has nothing against those in human relations and marketing, it just wasn’t a passion of hers. Kelley reached over and grabbed Emily’s hand which pulled her out of her career related thoughts.

 

“It’s okay to not know, ya know?”

 

“So I’ve been told, you and Sam give similar advice.” Emily chuckled.

 

“Well, it’s good advice.” Kelley then scooted closer to Emily, looped her arm though Emily’s, and Kelley leaned head on her shoulder.

 

 

* * *

 

  

Kelley quickly inserted the hotel key into the door. She shoved the door open, eager to get Emily inside, but did not want to seem too excited about the chance to be alone with Emily without anyone around. The minute the door closed, Emily looked around to make sure the room was clear.

 

Kelley sensed Emily’s thought process, “Ali said she won’t be back until late.”

 

“Oh?” Emily smiled at Kelley.

 

Within a second, Emily pressed Kelley against the wall. Their bodies were pressed so closely together that Kelly was sure there was no space left between them. Even though nothing had happed yet, Kelley’s heart rate started to pick up and she felt Emily’s quickening pulse against her. They stood there for a second as they took in each other’s faces. Neither one of them was sure who was going to cut through the sexual tension that seemed to fill the air. Emily’s lips were only one inch from hers, similar to their position only a few days before, but this time no one was there to interrupt them. Less than a second later, Emily moved to close the distance. With their faces only a centimeter apart, Kelley asked, “are you going to kiss me or not?” She meant it to come out playfully but it came out sounded much closer to begging, her voice filled with lust and desire.

 

Before Kelley could panic at her comment, Emily closed the rest of the distance and pressed their lips together. There was a definite difference between their first kiss and this one. The first kiss back on the porch was tentative and explorative, but this one was almost like a necessity. Kelley felt that she needed to kiss Emily almost as much as she needed air. Emily’s lips parted slightly and Kelley took the chance to explore Emily’s mouth with her tongue. Their kiss deepened and Emily broke the kiss and started to lay kissed along Kelley’s jawline, down to her neck, and back up to nibble on Kelley’s ear. Kelley let out an unintentional moan.

 

“Your clothes. They need to come off. Like now.” Emily’s command came out in a breathless and husky voice. Kelley responded by pressing their lips together quickly and she began to remove one piece of clothing as she walked towards the bed. Emily took a second to take in the sight of Kelley’s body before quickly removing her shirt and following.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Kelley and Emily sat cuddling on the bed as they enjoyed the feeling of their bare skin against each together. Emily’s heart rate had just returned to normal before the familiar and annoying sound of Emily’s ring tone rang through the room.

 

“Fuck!” Emily yelled and rolled off the side of the bed.

 

Kelley quickly made sure she was okay and then burst out laughter. “Great in bed and oh so graceful, how did I get so lucky?” Emily rolled her eyes and tried to hide the happy blush that covered her cheeks. She pulled the sheet from the top of the bed and wrapped it around herself in search for her phone. After a few seconds, she found her phone in the back pocket of the shorts that were thrown haphazardly on the floor.

 

“Hello…this is she.” Kelley propped herself up on the bed and admired the women pacing in just a sheet. “That is fantastic news…thank you for the honor…I look forward to officially meeting you.” Emily continued to take small steps, it was her way of keeping calm while on the phone, “Thank you again. Goodbye.”

 

“So I just got a call…” Emily had a blank look on her face.

 

“I can see that.” Kelley began to sit up with her feet hanging over the bed.

 

“I’m…I…looks like I’m moving to Portland.” Emily began to crack a sideways smile.

 

“Portland?” Kelley paused as she tried to piece together what Emily was trying to say. “Are you saying you’re being drafted to the Portland?! WAIT! They only call the first pick to let them know…HOLY SHIT!” Kelley wrapped Emily is a big hug. “How does it feel?”

 

“I’m in shock. I guess I should probably call my family to let them know…” Emily’s thought trailed off when the shock from the phone call wore off and she suddenly realized just how naked Kelley was. “On the second thought, I can call them tomorrow morning.”

 

“Yeah?” Kelley eyed Emily flirtatiously and lead her back to the bed. “I can think of a few ways we could celebrate.”


	14. I'd be lying if...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily is back at UVA packing up her apartment for her move to Portland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My bad for not updating in a while, I was busy with work and I'm on vacation now...never thought I'd actually enjoy Jersey beaches. I also keep forgetting to thank my girlfriend who's been editing all of my chapters before I post them, so thank you! Here's the chapter, it's something! :)
> 
> P.S. Surfing is fun, I get why Kelley and half of Sky Blue does it now.
> 
> P.P.S. Let's hope the US doesn't have to have another comeback tomorrow like we did against Brazil.
> 
> P.P.P.S. I don't know if I P.S.'d the original P.S. correctly...if that makes any sense

Two weeks later, Emily sat on her bed in her apartment and looked at the amount of stuff she had accumulated over four years at UVA. The plans she had had when she entered college now stood in stark contrast to her current goals. Her plan had been to major in something sensible, enjoy four years as a varsity athlete, and maybe even find a guy to marry. Now she sat with a pending sociology degree and no clue what to do with it. She was the number one draft pick. And she had recently slept with the girl of her dreams. Emily started laughing to herself; she almost forgotten to add to the list that she received her first international cap last week. _How had she come to this?_ she thought to herself. When she was a freshman, she had only a partial idea of who she really was and what she was truly capable of. Even now, Emily found herself surprised at her progress and goals she had already reached.

 

Emily laid back against her bed. Her legs dangled over the edge and her worn UVA shirt scrunched up under her back. Emily needed a minute to herself to grasp the fact that these were the final hours in her college room. Her world was spinning so quickly, and through all of the excitement she had almost forgotten that she would be leaving UVA behind. At only 22, she was supposed to move across the country from her home and leave the comfort of the East Coast behind her. She tried to distract herself by replaying goofy memories in her head, but they also brought tears to her eyes. Leaving her apartment meant leaving her memories and friends. Even though she tried to fight it, she couldn’t help but think that she was also moving across the country from the girl she was beginning to fall for.

 

Tears again started to fill her eyes, and Emily quickly sniffed and scrunched up her face. She hated crying. Without much reason, she felt equally uncomfortable crying alone as to crying in front of others. In general, Emily always joked around, but it sometimes doubled as a defense mechanism to keep the tears in. A simple joke could usually keep people from realizing when she was really upset about something.

 

Naturally, Sam walked in then. Emily wiped away the tears quickly and remained on her back in attempt to hide her emotions from Sam. Sam leapt on the bed and knew immediately that Emily was actually allowing herself to get emotional. Sam had seen Emily cry once or twice, but this time felt different. Sam knew quite well that her emotions were going to mirror many seniors as they approach graduation. So Sam did what she knew best: she tried to make Emily laugh. Sam knew that if Emily cried, she would cry too. It would mean that Sam would have to acknowledge the fact that her best friend was moving across the country and in a few months she would be in a similar situation. In five months, she would begin another chapter of her life and would be making a similar move away from her home of the past four years.

 

After a few jokes, Emily began to crack a smile.

 

“Ah ha! There it is. Wow, I’m kind of awesome because that only took like three jokes.” Sam nodded approval to herself.

 

“Oh please, we both know that I’m the funny friend. But it’s sweet of you to try.” Emily smirked at the faked hurt look on Sam’s face.

 

“Fine, but I claim the sarcastic one.” Sam paused, “You’ve probably already been crowned the queen of stupidity…I mean humor at camp. I mean I’m just guessing here because someone *cough* hasn’t mentioned much about it besides the soccer stuff.”

 

“I don’t know what kind of camp you think I went to but it’s pretty much entirely soccer based…”

 

Sam rolled her eyes at Emily. “You can’t play soccer 24/7.”

 

“Well…you kind of can.”

 

“Alright, alright. I know there is always a shit ton of stuff you can do besides actually playing. I know soccer isn’t like running where you can only practice so much before it ends up back firing. You’d be shocked at the amount of people who think more miles equals faster times, I mean this one time- woah there, I see what you did! You can’t distract me that easily…most of the time.”

 

Emily shrugged her shoulder and feigned innocence. “It was good. I met a lot of people and got to know some of them pretty well.” She paused and realized the hidden meaning behind her words and wasn’t sure if she could simultaneously hide the blush and wide eyes.

 

“That was an interesting face, I’m assuming there is a story behind that. Spill!”

 

Emily sighed, caught. “So. Uh. Well.” She paused trying to figure out what she should reveal.

 

“Sure, go ahead, collect your thoughts. I’m gonna take a wild guess and say this is connected to the reason you check you phone every ten minutes.”

 

“Are you stalking me?” Emily tried to sway some of the attention from the pending interrogation.

 

“Dude.” Sam crossed her arms looking at Emily expectantly.

 

“I meant what I said. I just got to know some people pretty well. I think I found a group to fit in with. We’re referred to as the ‘youngins’ and I am claimed myself as the ring leader.”

 

“You are so avoiding something major.”

 

“I’ll just say that I listened to your advice.” Emily smiled at herself for saying so little.

 

Sam leaned back on the bed as she tried to process what Emily said. She wasn’t sure what Emily was hiding, she wouldn’t have hooked up with someone on the team so it would have to be someone from somewhere else. _Maybe she called or texted to ask someone out during camp?_ Sam’s thoughts came in rapid fire now. _Unless, was it someone at camp. No? No. It can’t be._

 

“Alright. You have to ease my thoughts here. It’s not someone from the team, right? Cause that would be crazy. Right?” Sam looked over at Emily who sat on the bed very still. “Em, right?”

 

“Okay, so...” Emily began but was cut off by the buzzer to her apartment. Sam looked over quizzically at Emily, they weren’t expecting anyone. In fact, Emily’s family just happened to be too busy to help her back up her apartment. She hadn’t even told her mom what day she was planning to move out before she said they were busy. They both slowly walked towards the living room so they could answer the buzzer but there was a knock on the door. Whoever had been knocking must have been let in by someone in the building. She peaked through the peep hole and only saw a tray of coffees held in view.

 

“Did you order coffee? Is that a thing?” Emily asked Sam who just shrugged her shoulders. Emily slowly opened the door and couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across her face. Sam was behind the open door and tried to peak around to see what Emily was smiling at so much.

 

“Dude. Why are you smiling like an idiot?” Emily glanced over at Sam’s comment and started blushing. On the other side of the door, Kelley quirked one eyebrow and smirked confidently at the effect she had on Emily.

 

“Hi!” Emily finally managed to get out, still shocked. “Come in, I can’t believe you’re here!”

 

Kelley stepped through the threshold of Emily’s apartment, she just assumed she couldn’t hug or kiss Emily because Sam was obviously there. Kelley had flown back to New Jersey to get some of her house set up before preseason and once she found out that Emily’s family bailed, she decided to fly out and help. Kelley rationalized this by convincing herself that she had enough miles and this was also a chance to see her cousin, it wasn’t just for Emily. At least that’s what she told herself.

 

“Kelley?” Sam went to hug her cousin but was clearly confused. “What are you doing here?” It was clear that Sam was in the process of trying to connect the events.

 

Kelley quickly answered because she could see, “I’m here to see you! My phone’s been all weird so I guess it didn’t go through. Oops, surprise!” She shared a smile with Emily who knew very well she received a text not even five minutes ago from Kelley.

 

“Oh! Cool, well I’m helping Em out so you might be stuck with that.”

 

“Damn, we have to help out Em. Oh look at the time, I think I need to get to the airport for my flight back to Atlanta…” Kelley joked, sent Emily a playful wink, and began to walk back towards the door.

 

“And miss out on all the fun? I don’t think so.” Emily blocked the way to the door as she crossed her arms and smirked towards Kelley.

 

 

* * *

 

 

An hour later, the three had boxed up all of Emily’s stuff from the kitchen and living room. All that was left was her bedroom. They flopped down on the couch. How come moving small things into boxed created so much sweat? They were all in top shape but simply putting pictures and plates into boxes was completely and utterly exhausting.

 

“I’ve gotta pee.” Sam announced and used both Kelley and Emily’s knees to push herself up.

 

“That’s for the announcement. Don’t fall in.” Emily called after her.

 

“That was one time!” Sam yelled.

 

Kelley raised her eyebrows at Emily. “She was really drunk…long story.” Emily laughed at the memory. “So are you really here to only see Sam?”

 

Emily sent Kelley a look, they knew they had limited time before Sam returned from the bathroom. “Yeah, not the entire reason. I mean, seeing Sam is always great but I really was kind of looking for any excuse to see you.” Kelley looked down sheepishly. Emily felt her heart rate pick up, Kelley was acting nervous and Emily couldn’t help the large smile that plastered her face.

 

“I can’t blame you there.” Emily smiled again but turned to face Kelley. “I’m so glad you’re here. The two weeks to the next residency camp seemed too long.”

 

Kelley leaned in and placed a light kiss on Emily’s lips. She pulled away so her face was only an inch from Emily who hurriedly closed the distance between them. The kiss only lasted another few seconds before both women pulled away from each other the second they heard the bathroom door open.

 

“Okay, so I don’t know about you guys, but I’m craving some food. Chipotle?” Sam started talking the minute she left the bathroom. Kelley jumped at the idea of food from her favorite chain restaurant.

 

“Yes. Yeah. Totally. Ja. Sí.”

 

“So obviously Kelley agrees in multiple languages…” Sam shook her head at her cousin.

 

“Em? I already know both of your orders so I was thinking of just running over and getting some.”

 

“You just want to get out of moving, don’t you?” Emily gave Sam a knowing look.

 

“That is neither here nor there.” Sam shook her head innocently but a smile played at her lips.

 

“Whatever you goof, go get us food.” Emily didn’t finish her sentence before Sam made her way towards the door.

 

She looked back as she put her shoes and coat on. “What? I’m really hungry. We don’t want a hangry Sam. Be back in thirty!” The door thudded closed before either Kelley or Emily could say a goodbye.

 

Kelley laughed and turned towards Emily, “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

 

“That’s why I keep her around.” Emily smiled to herself, grateful of her friendship with Sam.

 

“Should we start packing up your bedroom? I’m assuming you haven’t packed anything this week. Might have been because you spent a majority of your time texting a super amazing freckled beauty.” Kelley placed her hand, palm side down, underneath her chin.

 

“Those freckled Georgians will get ya. But fine, I guess we should actually get work done.” She pulled herself up and offered Kelley a hand.

 

Once they began walking towards her room, Kelley leaned in and whispered into her ear, “I never said anything about work.”

 

Her words sent a shiver down Emily’s spine that sent warmth in all the right places. “I like the way you think,” was all Emily could get out before the lustful thoughts overtook her.

 

After Emily closed the door to her room, she found Kelley already on the edge of her bed. Instead of the playful grin on her face, Kelley seemed nervous and uneasy. “Alright.” Kelley began, “I figured we should probably talk in person about where this is headed before we have some more fun.”

 

“Oh. Right, that makes sense.” Emily walked hesitantly towards the bed, unsure of where the conservation would go. She was pretty sure her emotions weren’t one sided, but they hadn’t officially talked about what they were doing.

 

“So I…I flirt with people. Well what people perceive as flirting. I’m kind of known for that. But the thing is, I don’t sleep around. That isn’t really my thing. I generally need to have some sort of connection to a person to even sleep with them.” Kelley looked over at Emily and tried to gauge her reaction. Emily sat still and faced Kelley but tried to keep her face in a neutral expression until Kelley got to her point. “But with you, it felt so different. So amazing” she added quickly with a smile. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more than sex. I like the late night texting and the good morning greetings. I know you’re moving across the country for the next few months but I’m sure with the national team and off weeks, we can make time to see one another. I know it’s only been a few weeks of knowing each other and…shit. I’m rambling.” Kelley’s cheeks flushed.

 

Emily couldn’t help herself, and she leaned in to kiss Kelley’s cheek. “’I’m so glad you said that. I want to try and figure things out. Like actually date and all that. I really like you and it’s kind of scary since we only met a little while ago.” Emily threw her hand over her mouth in attempt to stop her own talking. “What I’m trying to say is yes to your proposition.”

 

“Ugh, how are you this incredibly cute?” Kelley slowly closed the distance before them as she finished her statement.

 

“It’s a gift.” Emily said in between kisses.

 

* * *

 

 

They lay in bed together, their naked bodies intertwined. Kelley was laughing at some goofy dance move Emily tried to show her with her arms. Emily could feel Kelley’s body shake against her own and she resisted the urge to resume the activities they had just finished. Before Emily could give into her temptation, they heard the front door open. They flew apart from each other at lightning speed, trying to find their clothing that had been thrown to the floor in between hasty kisses. Unfortunately, Kelley rammed her elbow into Emily’s dresser while she was putting her bra on, creating a loud enough sound for Sam to hear from the front room. The footsteps approached quickly as they both scrambled. Kelley had on her bra and shorts and Emily only had her underwear and t-shirt on before Sam opened the door to Emily’s room. All three girls froze. Emily had one leg in her shorts, Kelley held her shirt in her hands, and Sam stood at the door with Chipotle in her hand a shocked expression on her face.


	15. What? What!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Sam finds out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the delay in writing. I kind of got stuck which is why this is a shorter chapter. I know where I want the story to go but am struggling with bridging my ideas so if you guys have any suggestions, I'm all ears! Thank you for all the positive comments, it makes my day. Hope y'all like it!

Sam stood completely still for several moments, and Emily could have sworn she was frozen except she noticed her grip on the Chipotle bag get tighter. Both Kelley and Emily remained partially clothed. Neither one knew what to do and seemed to have an unspoken agreement to stay still until Sam reacted. After fifteen excruciatingly long seconds, Emily snuck a look at Kelley. Kelley’s eyes widened once she made eye contact with Emily, her expression questioned, _is Sam catatonic?_ Emily shook her head slightly and brought her lips towards the side as she debated the next move.

 

“Stop that!” Sam broke the silence and made Kelley and Emily jump a little.

 

Kelley responded first, “by ‘that’, you mean…”

 

“The silent communication thing, it makes this all more strange.”

 

“Stranger would probably work better...” Emily corrected which earned a look from both women. “Not the point, my bad.”

 

“Yeah, not the point.” Sam paused. “This is just so weird.”

 

“We can explain,” Kelley began before Sam cut her off.

 

“Not that! Well yes, I would like an explanation but this half naked thing is too much.”

 

Emily looked down at her pant-less legs and nodded. “Fair enough.”

 

“So get dressed, I’m going to try and not scrub my eyes with soap, and then you owe me an explanation.” Sam left before she could anyone could get another word in. Kelley quickly pulled on her shirt and she looked over to Emily who looked around with a confused look on her face.

 

“Not feeling pants?” Kelley joked and Emily cracked a smile at Kelley’s attempt to diffuse the situation.

 

“I accidently misplaced them. Someone threw them somewhere.” Emily gave Kelley a pointed look but couldn’t hide the smile that crept on her face.

 

“Sorry? But not really. Yeah, not at all.” Kelley walked over and grabbed Emily’s hand. She pulled Emily in close and wrapped her arms around Emily’s neck.

 

“Yeah?” Emily smiled as she wrapped her arms around Kelley’s waist and pulled her even closer. She softly laid a kiss on Kelley’s lips, “as much as I want to stay in here and continue what we were doing, Sam might kill us.”

 

Kelley pouted, “I guess I’ll help you find your pants.”

 

* * *

 

 

The Chipotle was all set up on the table with napkins and forks. In general, Sam was the type of person who needed to do something at all times. In times when she was particularly stressed, Sam could not sit still for more than ten seconds. The sight of Sam sitting calmly at the table caused both Kelley and Sam to hesitate. They paused at the table and waited for Sam to make the next move.

 

“About time. Glad you both managed to find your clothes…” Sam glanced up towards them in a way that would have been identical to a librarian if only she had her reading glasses on.

 

Kelley moved first to take a seat across from Sam and Emily followed. Emily looked towards Sam and noticed that the setup mirrored a typical parental interrogation seen in movies. No one made a sound, Sam studied both the them.

 

It seemed like hour, in reality only 5 minutes, before Kelley spoke up. “Okay, so I’m gonna start the talking but only because the awkwardness might ruin Chipotle for me and I’m not okay with that.” Kelley gave herself a nod after her statement. Emily’s lips quirked into a slight smile at Kelley’s speech. She hadn’t realized she had been staring at Kelley until Sam cleared her throat.

 

“This isn’t the first time, is it?” Sam paused after her rhetorical question. “Because the way Emily is looking at you, this is more than some random hook up.” Sam was looking at Kelley when she finished with her eyebrows raised.

 

“I didn’t mean to. Emily’s your friend.” Kelley started. Emily kept glancing back and forth between Sam and Kelley to gauge their reactions. It became clear to Emily that the conversation was between the other two at the moment.

 

“This seems like a family thing so maybe I should go and let…” Emily tried to sneak away before Kelley grabbed her hand and yanked her down.

 

“Woah there, you’re not getting off that easy.” In any other circumstance, Sam and Emily would have started to laugh at the implication Kelley’s comment held.  Instead, Emily took a seat but did not let go of Kelley’s hand.

 

Sam glanced down towards their interlocked hands and looked at both of them, “Explain. Now.”

 

“Em, I think since you’re the best friend you outrank cousin for the explanation territory…”

 

“Oh har har,” Emily stuck her tongue out at Kelley who retaliated by flicking Emily on her shoulder.

 

“Enough with the cutesy! Gah, gross. My eyes!” Sam shouted from across the table. She took a deep yoga breathe before continuing. “Sonnett. Explain.”

 

“So you know I kind of had a crush on Kelley before I actually met her. Well a crush on the idea of her?” Emily stopped abruptly with her face scrunched up.

 

“Oh! Is that so?” Kelley had a mischievous smirk on her face.

 

Emily inhaled slowly, “I’ll explain later. Maybe.” She turned her attention back to Sam, “Right. So then we met at Thanksgiving which is technically your fault, might I add! And we bonded and might have made out a little and-“

 

“I’m sorry, what! You guys made out during Thanksgiving?!”

 

“Yup!” Kelley chirped happily which got her a deadpanned look from Sam.

 

“Yeah. Okay, the quick version is that we decided nothing can happen because I got my call up and there is the whole teammates thing. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t be friends so we texted before residency camp. Then at camp, I felt this pull towards her.” Emily paused and looked over. Kelley sat there and smiled sweetly at Emily.

 

Suddenly recognition lit Sam’s eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly as she pointed to Kelley but maintained eye contact with Emily. “Hold the phone. I was giving you advice and telling you to pursue my own cousin. What? What! WHAT.”

 

Kelley’s eyes grew wide at Sam’s yelling and glanced at Emily for assistance on what to do. Emily leaned over and whispered into Kelley’s ear, “She does this when she’s processing. She’s not mad, it’s just all coming together in her head. You should have seen her when she figured out who A was in Pretty Little Liars.” Kelley began to snicker and quickly stopped to make sure Sam hadn’t noticed. But Sam was in her own world as she made connections from conversations she had with Emily.

 

“Dude!” Sam finally yelled towards them, “Dude.” She remained quiet and Emily and Kelley sat there as they waited for Sam to finish her thought.

 

She lurched out of her chair, ran around the table. She threw her hands in the air, “AWH, you guys!” and wrapped both Kelley and Emily into group hug. Kelley peaked over Sam’s shoulder to make eye contact with a smiling Emily.

 

Sam released them from her very tight hug and began to do a shimmy styled dance around the kitchen table. Emily knew this well; it was her happy dance. Typically reserved for when her favorite team won or when someone brought her rolos. “Ahh, what if you guys get married and then Em will be in the family!” Emily and Kelley quickly glanced at each other with eyes wide. They both shook their heads at Sam’s antics.

 

“We just started dating, just 20 minutes ago!” Kelley laughed at the dancing Sam.

 

Sam stopped pacing and glanced at them, “AHHH! YES! You DTR’ed. Fun fact, I didn’t know that term until Moe made me watch Awkward with her. Is that show still on? Hold on! I’m gonna go check!” She ran out of the room on a mission to find the remote.

 

Kelley and Emily sat there quiet and slightly stunned. A few short moments past before they burst out laughing. “That was easy.” Kelley said and leaned in to kiss Emily on the cheek.

 


	16. Ice Baths and Elevator Rides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily returns to camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not updating in over a month. This is a little lighter on the so'hara moments but I promise the next chapter is all about them!
> 
> Things I've learned over this past month:  
> 1\. Grad school has been an adjustment! 
> 
> 2\. Don't drink and walk down stairs....it will result in a broken ankle and crutches and a boot  
> 3\. ANYWAY I'm productive with writing when I'm procrastinating on my homework (really not feeling like reading 20+ scientific articles and writing a literature review on it). 
> 
> 4\. With that being said, the next chapter will be posted before the end of the week, yay!!
> 
> 5\. Thanks for reading all of this list...you the real MVP
> 
> 6\. This wasn't really a list, just thought you guys would be more likely to read a list than a jumbo paragraph.... :)

Emily sat back against her seat and exhaled a sigh of relief. Typically, she was not a fan of flying, but today it came as welcome break. She looked to her left at the man who was fast asleep, thankfully leaning on the woman on the other side of him who looked very uncomfortable. Emily smiled to herself and glanced out the window, grateful to have the window seat. This past week had been hectic. She had finished packing up her campus apartment and everything was in boxes, ready to leave. After this trip, she would move across the country to Portland. There was no doubt that Emily was excited for the new opportunity, but she still felt a little sad leaving college an entire semester before her classmates. Having Kelley and Sam there to help pack kept her calm, but neither could stay until she was done. Once Kelley left and Sam became busy getting ready for the start of the semester, the first wave of realization about what she was leaving behind came over Emily. So she kept busy to avoid the feelings that came from closing a chapter of her life. It wasn’t until now, as she sat looking down on the clouds below her, that she realized she would have to eventually address all the emotions. She was saved by the pilot’s voice, stating they would begin their descent and reading the perfect weather report of southern California.

 

After landing, Emily was exiting her terminal on a mission to get to the baggage claim. Despite her slow southern ways, Emily liked to travel with determination. If it wasn’t for the warning squeal, she would have fallen over from the impact of a freckled brunette.  Emily’s smile spread from ear to ear as she realized it was Kelley with her limbs wrapped around her. She dropped her carry on to hug Kelley back, and was pleasantly surprised at the quick kiss Kelley planted on her lips. Emily stood there with Kelley’s body around hers for several seconds as they smiled at each other. Recognition crossed Kelley’s face as she remembered that they were in a very public place.

 

Kelley straightened out her shirt and picked up her own carry on that she had thrown to the side as she ran to meet Emily. “Hey, stranger. I missed you.”

 

“It’s been four days since I last saw you.” Emily gave her an exasperated look and tried her best not to laugh as Kelley’s expression began to mimic a sad puppy. “Joking! I missed you too. Those four days were not nearly as fun without you.” As Kelley’s puppy dog frown deepened, she added, “okay, okay. They weren’t fun at all.”

 

At those words, Kelley began to beam again. Kelley was relieved to find out that Emily probably missed her as much as she missed Emily. They started walking to the baggage claim together and tried to provide enough distance so they didn’t keep brushing arms. Even though the strangers might not pick up on their couple vibes, their teammates certainly would if they didn’t take proper precautions.

 

Just before they reached the baggage claim where they were supposed to be meeting a few of their teammates, Kelley stopped and demeanor got serious. “Okay, what’s our goal?”

 

“To have lots of sneaky, hot sex?” Emily said with a proud smile.

 

Kelley couldn’t help but smile. “You are dork. But I like this new goal.” She continued smiling at the thoughts in her head for a moment before focusing again. “Wait! Don’t distract me!”

 

“Fine, make sure no one else finds out until we are ready to tell more people.”

 

“Yes, particularly because Alex is already suspicious.”

 

“She kind of scares me…” Emily trailed off.

 

“Alex seems to scare everyone.” Kelley said matter of factly before following up, “Everyone but me.” Emily laughed at this, and pulled Kelley along so they could grab their baggage before everyone got there.

 

* * *

 

  

That afternoon, they had complete in their typical travel day workout, flushing out the sluggishness from the long plane rides and car rides. Emily just wanted to go back to the hotel and nap before dinner, but her aching muscles told her that first she could really use an ice bath. Almost everyone else had gone back to the hotel, so she was hoping to have the ice bath to herself.

 

Emily opened the door to the apparently empty training room and rounded the corner towards the ice baths. She hadn’t expected to see Ashlyn and Ali up against the lockers. And she definitely hadn’t expected to see them making out.

 

“Gah!” Emily let out, covering her eyes, and nearly running into the nearby wall. She wasn’t sure why she was being so weird; she knew they were a couple.

 

“Sorry!” The pair pulled apart quickly. Ali gave a sheepish, apologetic smile and Ashlyn rolled her eyes at Emily.

 

“Such a nice reaction to have.” Ash mocked, but Emily could tell she was joking.

 

“My bad. I was just caught off guard. Thought I had the room to myself.” Emily looked down at her feet.

 

“Ice bath?” Ali offered. She then got into one of the large tubs and Ashlyn followed. Emily took kicked her slides off and got into the tub next to them. “Ten minutes?” Ali asked and Emily nodded.

 

“Sonny, are you gay?” Ashlyn asked abruptly which got her a slap in the arm from Ali.

 

“’Am I gay? I’m ecstatic!’” Emily said with a smile on her face.

 

“Ah ha! Anyone that quotes _Imagine Me and You_ is gay.” Ashlyn leaned over to give Emily a fist bump. Ali rolled her at her girlfriend’s antics.

 

After Emily returned the fist bump, but wasn’t sure what else to say.

 

“I knew it.” Ash turned to smirk at Ali, “You owe me ten dollars.”

 

“I never agreed to that bet! You just decided you were going to get ten dollars if she was gay because I refused to speculate her sexuality.” Ali looked over at Emily and gave her another apologetic smile.

 

This seemed like as a good time as any to ask Ali and Ash about a few questions. “So how long have you guys been together?”

 

“Just over a year and a half!” Ali beamed at Ashlyn. There was something about Ali that made a room feel brighter, and you couldn’t help but feel drawn towards her. Emily knew just from the few interactions she had with Ali that she was a genuinely nice person.

 

“And going strong.” Ashlyn added. They were so cute, it almost hurt Emily to watch them interact.

 

“That’s so awesome. Did you have to tell Jill?”

 

Ali’s face scrunched up at the mention of Jill’s name for a millisecond before the steady smile returned. “Yeah, we told her after a few months when the team started figuring things out. She gave us some warnings about the press and to be careful not to mess with the team dynamic, but once she realized we were legit, she didn’t grill into us as much.”

 

“I guess it makes sense for her to be worried about the dynamic of the team.” Both Ali and Ash nodded their heads. “How do you deal with the distance now that Ash is going to be living in Orlando full-time?”

 

“Facetime, the national camps, and visits whenever possible.” Ash replied, making it sound so simple.

 

As if she could hear Emily’s thoughts, Ali followed up, “It’s not always easy. There are times when we don’t get to talk for a few days, or we’re traveling with our teams. The off season is kind of the best because we are able to be together until we report in late winter for the season.”

 

“My uncle always says, ‘if it matters to you, you make time for it’” Ash said.

 

Emily gave a small nod of her head but looked down at her legs submerged in the water. She knew she would do everything she could to make time to see Kelley, but was a little worried to have to live so far apart so soon into the relationship.

 

Another minute past before Ali said, “You okay, Em? I promise that it is completely possible to be in a relationship and play at this level. Particularly if the person understands the demands of your job.”

 

This caught Emily’s attention and she looked up to see Ali’s soft, reassuring smile. Before she was able to say anything, the buzzer on Ali’s phone went off.

 

They all stood, and as Ali stepped out of the tub, she looked directly at Emily. “It’ll be worth it.”

 

Emily’s eyebrows shot up at Ali’s perceptiveness. Meanwhile, Ash looked super confused but didn’t ask any questions.

 

“Um, thanks,” was all Emily was able to get out.

   

* * *

 

 

Emily pressed the down button for the elevator, ready to meet Rose in the lobby. She moved through the hotel on autopilot, with almost all attention on playing Trivia Crack on her phone. Kelley had convinced Emily to download the game and Kelley took it very seriously. Emily had been smiling at her phone at the thought of Kelley and didn’t seem to notice another person enter the elevator a floor below her.

 

“Don’t count on it lasting.” The intimidating goal keeper peered down at Emily.

 

“Excuse me?” Emily was caught off guard. Hope had a tendency to treat Emily like she wasn’t there when they were off the field. This was fine by Emily, because although she admired Hope’s soccer skills, she couldn’t seem to like her personality. She wanted to believe that she hadn’t let Kelley’s story to bias her, but Emily couldn’t deny she didn’t trust Hope after what she had done to Kelley.  

 

“You and O’Hara,” Hope looked at Emily with a patronizing glare. It was clear she felt she had the upper hand in the conversation since she had figured out Emily’s secret relationship. When Emily just gave her the side eye, she continued. “Your potential on this team and your newbie status probably intrigue Kelley. But it will wear off; you’re the rebound until she finds someone else.”

 

Before Emily could even consider the repercussions, Emily snapped back. “Funny because I don’t think you get any input. But whatever you need to keep telling yourself.” Emily gave her a sour smirk that made Hope’s eye darken and her jaw tighten. The elevator door binged open and Hope stormed out. It was clear to Emily that people didn’t really talk back to Hope, and she’d be lying if she rattled by the interaction. In fact, she was kind of worried she peed a little. Emily walked out of the elevator to find Rose with wide eyes.

 

“Jeez, who pissed in her cheerios?” Rose leaned over and whispered in Emily’s ear. Kelley entered the lobby from outside just as Hope stormed past her nearly clipping Kelley’s shoulder. After Kelley looked behind her at the angry Hope, she turned her attention to search the lobby for some sort of explanation. Her eyes landed on Emily and Rose. Emily tried to keep her facial expression neutral in order to let Kelley know she was fine and would explain later.  


It took Emily a few seconds to realize Rose had begun to talk again. “Some people just need to hug dogs.” Kelley approached the two with a smile on her face from Rose’s comment.

 

“I think we should petition for Wilma to join us at camp.” Kelley joked, but Rose immediately lit up at the thought. Emily closed her eyes briefly, happy that Kelley diverted Rose’s attention from the reason behind Hope’s angst.

 

“Oh no, her relationship with Wilma is past normal…” Emily began. “We’ve been here for a day and over half of our conversations are about her.

 

Rose stuck her tongue out at Emily but gave the veteran a smile. “I’ll hold off until Jill likes me a little more before I begin my petition for Wilma as our mascot.”

 

“Fair enough.” Kelley smiled, “Who’s hungry?”

 


	17. Portland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelley take another trip to surprise Emily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: I wrote a smut scene.
> 
> I decided to make this chapter a little longer so that's why I'm a tad late in posting and it also took me a while to decide if I wanted to post something way more sexual. Anyway, let me know what you guys think!!

Despite her growing distain for travel, Kelley wanted to be there when Emily moved into her Portland apartment. Kelley had been back in Atlanta with her sister Erin for the off season and only explained that she was going to see a friend before jetting off to the airport. Once she landed in Portland, Kelley checked her phone to make sure she actually had Emily’s address. Once she had the address pulled up on her phone, Kelley began the trek to the taxi line. She could not shake the jittery feeling that was starting up in her stomach. Kelley was excited to see Emily, but also slightly nervous she was overstepping. The hour and a half flight to Charlottesville was one thing, but the cross country flight might seem like a bit much. _Maybe it wasn’t the biggest of deals. They were a couple and everyone knew that lesbians tend to move fast._ Kelley’s thoughts began to swirl. _It’s not like she was U-Hauling. She only had one bag with her._ She gave herself a nod, took a deep breath a got in the taxi in front of her.

 

The short ride seemed to fly by. Even though she had gone to school at Stanford, Kelley never really spent a large amount of time exploring the north western states. She wasn’t caught off guard by the man walking next to the taxi at the stop light with the neon pink beard that was braided. This was Portland and Kelley was beginning to think it was more accepting and unique than New York City. The taxi began to slow down when it approached a more suburban area. After swiping her credit card, Kelley got out with her bag in toe. There was a women coming out of the apartment building with a corgi and Kelley was almost too distracted by the dog to remember to enter the building.

 

“Thank you.” Kelley offered to the women before stepping inside. She walked up to the second floor and stopped at the stairwell exit. She realized that she had only planned up to the point of arriving at the apartment complex. It was just luck that the woman there was to let her in. Kelley knew that Emily was at her apartment because she received a goofy snapchat from Emily in her new bedroom just minutes ago. Emily was under the impression that Kelley was spending the day hiking at a park outside of Atlanta so she was going to be completely blindsided.

           

Kelley opened the door to enter the hallway of Emily’s new floor. Just outside of Emily’s apartment, she paused. _What was the plan now? Should I just go in and see if I can surprise her? That would mean the door would need to be unlocked. What if it’s not unlocked? It should be unlocked; she’s been moving in this weekend._ Kelley’s thoughts were coming in rapid spurts. She grabbed for the door knob and turned in. It was unlocked. Kelley walked into the apartment and was greeted by a nicely decorated living room. She kept forgetting Emily was living with another Thorns player. There was movement in the kitchen towards Kelley’s left and she began to follow the noise. With her back towards the door, the blonde was leaning against the counter with medium wash jeans and an old soccer jersey. Kelley smiled, she had a fun way of surprising Emily. Kelley took a few steps towards her and began to wind up to smack her playfully on the butt. In the half second that Kelley initiated the motion, she realized the women in front of her was not in Emily. Kelley’s face took on a mixture of surprise and panic because she realized she was going to smack Emily’s twin sister’s butt.

 

The minute contact was made, Kelley let out a yelp and the women in front of her turned around in surprise. Kelley didn’t need a mirror to be able to tell her face was scarlet red.

“I...uh…sorry. I’m sorry! Wrong person!” Kelley buried her face in her hands in attempt to shield her embarrassment.

 

“That was quite a greeting.” The women smirked. It was clear she found this quite entertaining. She extended her hand, “I’m Emma, you must know my twin, Emily.”

 

Kelley accepted her hand but only nodded. Emma continued, “Yeah, my parents weren’t too creative with the names Emma and Emily. Really I think, they just wanted to give people a hard time. Anyway, it’s not every day Kelley O’Hara smacks your butt.” Emma winked to toy with Kelley.

 

After a few seconds, Kelley got her mojo back. “Some would take it as an honor.  I’m going to assume you’re a soccer fan if you already know who I am?”

 

“I play in college but not quite to Emily’s level. I’ll be sure to ask for some tips before you leave though.” Emma bantered back.

 

“Kelley?!” Emily was at the entrance to the kitchen. Her face lit up at the sight of Kelley. They both stood there staring at each other with goofy grins. It took everything in Emily’s will power to not wrap her arms around Kelley and kiss her. Kelley checked out Emily’s tight fitting jeans and form fitting tank top in the least subtle way. Their graze broke when Emma cleared her throat. Emily tried to quickly recover by accusing her sister of flirting with Kelley.

 

“Woah there, I think you might have to blame Kelley for starting it. Kelley here just introduced herself in the most fun of ways.” Emily’s eyebrows shot up in a questioning look. “I’m going to assume you smack everyone on the butt and it’s not just reserved for particular people.” Emma finished.

 

“You smacked my sister’s ass?!” Emily turned to Kelley, clearly not too upset.

 

“I thought she was you!” Kelley answered quickly.

 

Emma busted up into a fit of laughter, “So it is just reserved for my sister then?”

 

Emily’s face become bright red and Kelley couldn’t hide the slight blush that was beginning to from.

 

“So Em, when are you going to officially introduce me to your girlfriend?” Emma said in a matter of fact way. Kelley and Emily’s mouth dropped open. “Sorry, have you not had that talk yet? Awkward…”

 

Emily gave way to her sisters teasing was too quickly, “As if! We are already dating!” Emily threw her hand over her mouth and looked over at Kelley with an apologetic look.

 

Kelley let out a laugh to show that she was okay with Emma knowing. “So how did you figure it out that quickly?”

 

“Oh please. I had an inkling the second you smacked my butt and then you just looked at each other with lovey eyes. It’s so cute its almost sickening. Also there is the fact that almost every conversation I’ve had with Emily, she has managed to bring you into it.” Emma turned her attention to Kelley.

 

“Is that so?” Kelley turned to Emily was a confident smirk.

 

Emily began to rub her hand on the back of her neck, “Jeez, Emma. Not _every_ conversation!”

 

“Right, let’s pretend that’s the truth.” Emma’s eyes lit up, “Oh my god. Am I the first to know?!”

 

Kelley looked at Emily to answer this once. “Well, I think Ali and Alex have some serious suspicions.” Emily paused and looked over at Kelley. “And then Sam knows…”

 

“Damn, of course Sam knew. Holy shit, are you talking about Ali Kreiger and Alex Morgan?! So cool, anyway, not the point. How did Sam figure it out? I’m assuming you’ve met my sisters ‘other twin’?” Emma asked Kelley.

 

Kelley coughed a little, “Funny thing, Sam is actually my cousin. And well she kind of walked in on us…”

 

Emma’s face was stuck in a neutral expression before she said, “Walked in on you?” Emma paused and recognition showed on her face, “No shit! Wait, ew I don’t want to think about my sister like that. Although I am bummed I’m not the first to know, you two need to tell me the story of how you met because I’m beginning to think it wasn’t at camp.”

 

* * *

 

Emily hung up her phone, “The food’s here, be right back.”

 

The second the door closed, Emma spun towards Kelley on the couch. “So what are your intentions with my sister?”

 

Kelley who had just took a sip of water, tried hard not to spit it out at the question. “Uhh…well…you see….” She tried to get her words out between coughs. “I really like her. I mean we just started dating, but this feels really different. I can’t help but smile when she walks into the room and I really love when she randomly Facetimes me when she’s bored. I could probably go on about her but I’ll stop before she gets back.” Kelley took a deep breath before she finished, “Essentially, I really, really like your sister.”

 

Emma sat across from Kelley on the couch with her legs crisscross and a huge smile on her face. “Correct answer. But one thing. Don’t relationships with two girls get serious way faster? Shoot, there was that term that Em used once.”

 

“U-hauling?” Kelley laughed and looked over at Emma. “Well it depends on the relationship but generally yes. In my past relationships, I never really had that strong of a desire to be with them at all times but with Em...” Kelley began to blush and she wasn’t sure when the last time that she blushed this much.

 

“Awh!” Emma squealed before pulling Kelley into a tight hug.

 

The apartment door opened just then and Emily walked into the living room. “Did I miss something?”

 

Emma and Kelley pulled apart laughing. “I officially approve.” Emma stated.

 

Kelley rolled her eyes at Emma, “Oh please, you approved of me the minute I touched your ass.”

 

* * *

 

Without reason, Emily began to cry. Not a soft cry but a cry that leaves a person shaking and rolled in a ball. Emily had just sat down on her bed when she looked around at her new place and everything hit her at once and didn’t have the strength this time to fight it off. She was in an amazing city, with her dream job, and finished up her college degree. Yet here Emily sat with a guilty feeling because all she wanted to do was cry. It was a lot of change at once and no matter how many times her professors and parents warned her about the transition from college to the real world, she didn’t understand until this very moment. Kelley entered the room with two cups of her famous smoothie in hand and was shocked at the view before her. After setting down the cups quickly, Kelley approached Emily on the bed. The minute Kelley sat next to Emily, Emily scooted into Kelley’s lap. Kelley wrapped her arms around Emily, gently rubbing her back and let Emily cry it out. Several minutes passed before Emily’s body began to calm down.

 

She looked up at Kelley with blood shot eyes and a weary smile. “Sorry. I really needed that.”

 

Kelley nodded her head at Emily, “It’s okay. What do you need?”

 

“I don’t really know at the moment. I’m just so glad you’re here. I just all hit me that the college chapter of my life has come to a close and I don’t know what’s next.” Emily took a deep breath before continuing. “Well, I mean of course I know what the immediate next is. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I am so happy to be here and get the chance to actually play professional soccer but it’s still so much of a change all at once.”

 

The thought brought more tears to Emily’s eyes and Kelley cupped Emily’s face and kissed the falling tear. “You aren’t a bad person for feeling overwhelmed even if it’s about good things. And Em,” Kelley paused, “it’s okay to not be okay.”

 

Emily’s tears stopped falling and she looked Kelley directly in the eyes and felt the worry dissipate. That was exactly what Emily needed to hear at that moment. Such a simple statement but it held so much meaning to Emily at this point in her life. Emily often found that in all of her troubles or concerns about life, someone was always there to remind her that ‘someone else had it worse.’ She knew that the people telling her that meant well with an attempt to put her problem in perspective but she couldn’t help but feel ignored. Of course someone always had it worse, but that doesn’t mean her problem were invalid. Kelley was right, she wasn’t okay at this moment and that was perfectly fine.

 

She refocused her attention on Kelley’s eyes and another realization hit her even harder than the one before. Emily was falling for the women in front of her and she was completely okay with that fact.

 

Overcome by the feeling, Emily closed the distance between them in a slow, deliberate motion. Kelley was initially thrown by the act but fell quickly into the kiss. Something about this felt different than their previous kisses. Kelley picked Emily up to pivot her so Emily’s back was on the bed. The entire time, neither one broke the kiss and continued to explore each other’s mouths. Emily tilted her head so she could lay kisses along Kelley’s jaw line which caused a low moan to escape from Kelley’s throat. Kelley found the hem of Emily’s shirt and slowly took it off. Emily mimicked the motion with Kelley as they stared into each other’s eyes. The emotions were raw and if Kelley paused at all, she was worried it would overwhelm her so she reached for Emily’s pants and began to unzip. After a few more motions, both women were fully free of clothing and Emily paused for a second to just look at Kelley. A smile played on her lips.

 

“What?” Kelley’s word sounded breathless.

 

Emily smiled, “You’re beautiful.”

 

“Come here,” Kelley said. Emily didn’t hesitate.

 

Soon their bodies were intertwined and still kissing. Each felt like they couldn’t get close enough to the other. Emily couldn’t wait any longer and her fingers began to trace down Kelley’s chest and then stomach. Emily took the time to tease Kelley as she made light circles on her upper thigh. Kelley was only able to handle seconds of the teasing before she weakly moaned, “I need you.” Emily’s fingers found Kelley then. Kelley’s eyes shut tight at the feeling of Emily’s touch.

 

“Look at me,” Emily whispered into Kelley’s ear. Kelley did as she was instructed and would do just about anything Emily asked of her. In a matter of seconds, the shock waves rolled over Kelley. The eye contact took her over the edge and she gripped onto Emily’s back. Emily remained on top of Kelley and planted kisses down Kelley’s neck as she waited for Kelley’s body to calm down.

 

After several seconds, Kelley’s eyes opened and she smiled up at Emily and said, “My turn.” before flipping them so Kelley was now on top.

 

Kelley had always believed that there were generally two kinds of sex: fucking and making love, even though the phrase making love freaked her out.  When you fucked someone, it was more about a person’s sex drive than it was about emotions. But ‘making love’ was when every move was deliberate full of emotions. It became very clear that what had just happened was the latter.

 

* * *

 

 

“How are you feeling now?” Kelley asked.

 

“Just peachy.” Emily replied with her eyes still closed. After a second, Emily opened one eye to peaked at Kelley. “Get it? ‘Cause we are both from Georgia.” Emily giggled at her own joke.

 

Before Emily had a chance to react, Kelley swatted her with a pillow. “I’m falling for the biggest nerd. Urgh!”

 

Emily pulled the pillow off of her face, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

 

Kelley’s eyes widened at her own words, she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Um…”


	18. Flying Solo?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I'd spice it up a little and provide some drama. If you guys hate it or love it, let me know! So glad Portland won and Sonnett scored *Insert heart eyed emoji* !! But Chicago losing at the last minute like that broke my heart :( Can only hope Portland crushes!
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you guys think!

Kelley grabbed the last of her things and threw them into her practice bag. She was just waiting for Emily to get there so they could have a few minutes to themselves. Right on cue, there was knocking on the door.

 

“Come in, it’s unlocked!” Kelley yelled, her back to the door. Expecting Emily, Kelley spun around quickly, “Hey you….Hope? What are you doing here?” Kelley asked with clear annoyance.

 

“Don’t pretend you aren’t happy to see me.” Hope walked towards Kelley. “When are you going to cut the crap with Emily?”

 

Kelley folded her arms across herself. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Emily is a rebound and I think it’s cute that you are using a youngster to get over me.”

 

Kelley scoffed, “As if. Emily is not a rebound. Don’t kid yourself Hope, I’m over you.”

 

Hope took a few steps towards Kelley. “Do I need to remind you of what you’ve missed?”

 

“How about hell no.” Kelley’s face started to turn a light shade of red from the anger growing within her.

 

“I think I might have been wrong.” Hope took another step closer to Kelley.

 

“About what?” Kelley laughed sarcastically.

 

“Us. I think there is still something here.”

 

Kelley began to step back away from Hope, “Let’s pretend that I would ever let that happen again. Are you still with your _husband_?” Kelley emphasized the last word.

 

“Why does that matter?” Hope retorted.

 

“Oh, I don’t know…for one, that’s cheating. Two, I’m with Emily. And three, I’m so over you.” Kelley barely finished her last word before Hope closed the distance between them.

 

Hope’s lips felt hard and determined against hers. After the second of shock wore off, Kelley began to push Hope off of her. She was planning to flip out on Hope but before she could, she saw Emily standing behind Hope in the doorway. Emily’s mouth was slightly open with shock and her brows furrowed together.

 

“Em…this is not what you think!” Kelley began.

 

Emily knew in this situation, there were two drastic things she could do. First, she could do what almost everyone does in the movies and just run in the other direction and not ask a single question. The other option was to stay there and freak out, start to yell, and make a scene. She could yell at Kelley, “How could you do this?!” but instead she took the first option. Emily picked up the bag that she had dropped in shock and began to quickly walk to the elevator. It occurred to her on her walk to the elevator that there was a third option. Simply wait there for Kelley to explain herself. Then she could rationally make a decision. But it was too late for that now.

 

Back in the room, Kelley turned back towards Hope.

 

“What the actual fuck was that?! You had no right to do that!” Kelley tried to go after Emily. She needed to explain what happened.

 

Hope grabbed onto Kelley’s arm, “Oh please, it’s not like you love her.”

 

Kelley turned back towards Hope with a stare that could turn most people to stone.

 

Hope let go of Kelley’s arm, “Oh my god, you do.” For a split second, sadness crossed Hope’s eyes but it was quickly covered by a hard look. “Whatever.”

 

* * *

 

Emily got into the elevator and aggressively pressed the button to the lobby. Before the doors could close, Hinkle walked into the small space. An awkward silence settled over them before Hinkle turned to Emily, “I overheard what happened. I’m in the next room and the walls aren’t very thick. You know, as a Christian, I believe that if you just love God, you wouldn’t have to deal with all of this sin.”

 

Emily’s mouth fell open. She was not expecting Hinkle to even speak to her let alone voice her offensive option. The elevator door pinged and began to open.

 

Emily turned to Hinkle, “You and your idea of ‘God’ can go fuck yourself.” She stormed out of the elevator doors and vaguely heard Hinkle mumble something about rude homosexuals. It was not what she needed at the moment. Georgia had prepared Emily for the homophobes, and in any other situation, she would have simply said a witty comeback and left. But not today.

 

* * *

 

Practice was rough. It seemed as though everyone was having an off day and Emily felt drained. Her touches were off, she let Tobin school her in defense, and Emily felt winded from simple dribbling drills. All she wanted to do was go back to the hotel and cry it out.

 

“Everyone gather around. Take a seat.” The team was used to a huddle session after a practice but the invitation to sit down was far from a promising sign. As everyone was getting ready to sit down, Jill began to talk again.

 

“Dynamics. In most cases, we are a dynamic team.” Jill paused and looked around at her team. Many shared confused expressions. “We are a dynamic team but our dynamics are off. Some of you might have noticed in the past few days, or even training camps, the way you all interact on the field and off is strained.”

 

Kelley glanced over at Emily in hopes of making eye contact. She just needed to talk to Emily. But Emily kept her eyes focused on Jill; she could sense Kelley’s eyes were on her. Emily was worried that if she even looked at Kelley, she would break down right in front of all of her teammates and coaches.

 

“Although some of you might think we are oblivious to team drama, we are more than aware. As a whole, you all are generally good at working together despite your differences off the field. But as of recently, your social lives have impacted the level of play and the team chemistry. We cannot control every argument, but as a coaching staff, we have come a decision. Effective immediately, you are required to report any relationships you may have if it is with a player on the team. This is just like in a general office work place. Even though you are all doing what you love, I would like to remind you that this is still work. So any relationships that are currently going on, we expect to be reported by the end of this week.”

 

Emily gulped but kept her gaze focused ahead. She felt the lump grow in her throat as she tried not to cry. Emily wasn’t sure where she and Kelley were anymore. Kelley and Christen sat next to each other and looked panicked. If this came up yesterday, Kelley would not hesitate and go straight up to Jill and tell her about her relationship with Emily. But after the events of today, she wasn’t sure Emily would be willing to listen to her.

 

After Jill let her words settle for several seconds, she finished with, “That is all. I expect tomorrow’s training to go much better.”

 

As people began to get up, Kelley’s plan to was to make a bee line for Emily to talk to her before everyone got in the vans. Christen pulled on Kelley’s shirt to get her attention. Kelley knew that Christen wanted to talk and she would just have to wait to catch Emily at the hotel.

 

“I did not expect that.” Christen folded her arms in front of her.

 

Kelley bit her bottom lip, “Neither did I.”

 

Christen scrunched her mouth from side to side before suddenly blurting, “Tobin and I have been seeing each other.”

 

Despite everything going on, Kelley couldn’t help but smile a little. She decided she was going to play dumb. “Oh my god! You. And. Tobin. What?”

 

Christen had not expected the outburst and her eyes shot up wide. “I, uh, I…I just didn’t know how to tell you. Please don’t be mad!”

 

Kelley couldn’t help it and her laughter carried across the field. “Press, I know. You and Tobin have been pretty much in love with each other for over a year. Tobin was all broody for a while when she thought you didn’t like her so I helped out a little.”

 

The last part caught Christen’s attention, “Helped out in what way Kelley?! I swear to god if I find out you slept with my girlfriend!”

 

“Jeez, no! Tobin is one of my bros, that’s just…ew. Anyway, who do you think subtly told Tobin to show up with flower and profess her love. She didn’t even realize I knew that her ‘crush’ was actually you.” Kelley lightly laughed at the memory. “I’m happy for you, Pressy.”

 

“Well, thank you for kicking her stubborn butt into gear. I thought she’d never make a move.” Christen suddenly started to smirk. “Is that how you wooed Sonny?”

 

Kelley’s mouth hung open, “What?! How did you know?”

 

“Oh please, you’re smitten and it was easy to piece together. What did help me figure it out was when I saw you making out in the hallway last residency camp.”

 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Kelley asked dumbfounded.

 

Christen shrugged her shoulders. “I figured you’d tell me when you were ready. I’m really happy for you, Kel.”

 

“Don’t be too happy.” Kelley wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell anyone about this morning. But after an internal debate that lasted only a second, she continued. “Emily isn’t talking to me right now.” Kelley filled Christen in on the morning’s events with Hope.

 

“Fucking Hope. Who does she think she is? It’s no wonder she had a limited amount of friends on this team when she acts like that. I guess the next question is, do you still have feelings for Hope?” Christen’s expression turned serious at her question.

 

Kelley didn’t even need a second to think before she responded. “Hell no. I felt nothing. The entire time she was in my room, I was just thinking about my Valentine’s Day plans for Emily.”

 

“Awh, that’s sweet. I’m so glad you’re over Hope. But what’s your plan now?”

 

“That’s where I’m going to need some advice.” Kelley looped her arms through Christens and they began to walk towards the locker room.

 


	19. Rooftop Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelley gets her chance to explain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this written for a little while but wasn't able to post it. My girlfriend and I have both been sick and she usually edits my chapters and I didn't have the energy to post it. Also shout out to her for reading through it all because she's not a soccer fan haha. I figured I'd also point out that I don't hate Hope Solo or anything, I'm not her biggest fan but she just happens to kind of be the villain in this story. Anyway, let me know what y'all think!

“Em, how are you doing?” Ali gingerly approached the human covered with blankets and pillows. Ali was able to pick up some of the grumbling noises Emily emitted from her manmade cave. “Do you want to go check out the roof of the hotel? I heard it overlooks the city.” She got no response from her roommate. “Em, what if I told you I have chocolate?”

 

Emily peaked her head out from the sheet, “I’m listening…”

 

Ali and Emily were approaching the top few stairs leading towards the roof door. “Ah, shoot. I forgot my hoodie. Meet you up there!” Ali ran down the stairs quickly.

 

“Ali! You’re wearing a hoodie!” Emily shouted after her. “Whatever,” she mumbled to herself. Emily opened the door for the roof and was blown away by the view. She walked towards the edge and looked out at the illuminated skyline. Emily was so engrossed in the view that she didn’t notice someone approaching.

 

“Em, can we talk?” Emily turned to find Kelley nervously pulling on her the hem on her sweatshirt.

 

“Kelley?” Emily was caught off guard. “Wait, did you set this up?”

 

If Emily wasn’t mad at Kelley, Kelley would have rolled her eyes and said something along the lines of ‘duh.’ Instead she said, “Ali and Chris helped.”

 

“They both know about us?” Emily’s voice hitched on the last word. She wasn’t sure if there was an ‘us’ for them anymore. “I mean; they know that we had been seeing each other?”

 

Kelley couldn’t help but fixate on the past tense of Emily’s words. Had she already put their relationship in a box, closed it, and put it on a shelf somewhere? “Em, please let me explain.”

 

Emily began to take a step back but Kelley continued. “If you still hate me after I explain, then I’ll let you go. But please, please hear me out.” She waited for Emily to respond but just got a curt nod.

 

Emily went in self-protection mode. She sat down on a half wall nearby and Kelley followed her action but sat a few feet away. Kelley took a deep breath, not sure where to begin. She was at risk of losing Emily and had to pick her words carefully, which sometimes wasn’t her strong suite with emotions.

 

“I was just getting ready for practice and then Hope walked into my room. I honestly thought it was you.”

 

“You thought she was me?! Is that why you made out with her?” Emily threw her hands up in exasperation.

 

“No! I just knew you were coming to my room! I’ll explain. So then there she was, saying stupid shit.”

 

Emily interrupted, “What was she saying?”

 

“Uh, well.” Kelley rubbed her hands on the back on her neck. “Hope was trying to say that you…that you were just a rebound. Then she was pretty much saying that I wasn’t over her but was very careful about not using the words the would indicate that she wasn’t over me.” Kelley paused before continuing, “She kept stepping closer to me and I told her to back off but she ‘wanted to remind me of what I was missing,’” Kelley’s face was scrunched up. “Before I knew it, she was kissing me which must have been the second you were in the doorway because I promise you that once the shock wore off, I pushed her away! It was nothing!” Kelley’s voice was louder with desperation.

 

Emily sat there and nodded her head. Her expression a mix between neutral and pensive. Kelley wasn’t sure what else to say so she sat and waited for Emily to respond. A minute past and Kelley spoke up again, “Are you okay? What are you thinking?”

 

“I’m processing.” Emily looked at Kelley quickly and then back down at her own fidgeting hands.

 

Kelley sat there and as the seconds passed, she let her eyes wander around. She had never been good at sitting still but she wanted Emily to know that she would wait with her all night it that’s how long it took.

 

“I...” Emily started and paused. Kelley’s neck snapped back to look at Emily. “I’m not sure what to say. Did it mean anything to you?”

 

“Of course not! I was thinking about ways to get Hope out of my room so I could go see you.”

 

“But back at Thanksgiving, it seemed like you just got over what happened. Did this stir anything up?”

 

Kelley was in panic mode. The words just started flying out without her brain telling her what she should actually say and what to keep to herself. “No! Hope was a mistake. I am 100% over her and she just doesn’t like to believe that I could find anyone better. Plus, how could I possibly want to be with Hope when I love you!” Emily’s eyes widened and Kelley looked horrified at what she just said.

 

She hadn’t meant to say those last few words. They slipped out. It wasn’t as though she didn’t mean them. Kelley had just planned to say them in a little while so Emily wouldn’t be too freaked out from her saying them too soon.

 

“I’m sorry, what?” Emily’s face wore a perplexed look. Yesterday, if this happened, she would be leaping for joy. But today, it almost felt like poking an open wound.

“Well you see, um” Kelley was trying to figure out if she should play it off or actually admit her feelings. “Ah fuck it. I meant what I said. I love you. I know it might freak you out but I can’t help it. So yeah.” Kelley was losing steam with each word. This wasn’t how she had pictured telling Emily. What was supposed to happen was she would say it when they were cuddling, when it came out with ease. Instead, here she sat with a sinking feeling that Emily must have not felt the same way. After all, Kelley thought, Emily would be saying something, anything to that fact she just dropped the L-bomb.

 

Emily sat still and could tell Kelley’s eyes were on her. She wanted so badly to say ‘I love you’ back, but Emily had been hurt before. She wasn’t sure she could handle it again. By now, Kelley was up and doing small paces in front of her. Despite it all, a small smile spread across Emily’s face at the nervous women in front of her.

 

“Kel, sit down.” Kelley did as Emily instructed and sat quietly, awaiting a response. Emily was not the best with expressing her feelings. She was an open book when it comes to telling people stories about her life. But Emily always left out how she felt.

In fact, she could tell her coming out story over and over without mentioning how it still hurt her to think about.

 

“I need to tell you something before I can actually respond to what you said. Not even Sam knows about this.” Emily took a deep breath.  “There was this girl I liked back in my second year.” Emily cleared her throat. She hadn’t really told anyone about this, including her sister. “So she wasn’t out but had recently figure out that she wasn’t exactly straight. She and her boyfriend broke up only a few weeks prior but we kind of fell for each other. I don’t mean that we fell in love, I mean it was more of an infatuation. It was all so thrilling and exciting to be with her. She was the first girl I had really dated, well, we never officially label it. A month or two in, she told me that she was ready to come out to people. I was so excited that she was ready be herself. Also, the greedy part of me was excited she was happy enough with me to actually show that I was her girlfriend.” Emily took a calming breath. “But I wasn’t really her girlfriend, I got ahead of myself. The night before she was going to come out to her parents, I went to her apartment to surprise her with a movie night to calm her down. Her roommate let me in, but she looked weird and told me not to go into her room. Obviously, I opened the door anyway. There she was, in bed with her ex-boyfriend.” Kelley’s eyebrows shot up and Emily continued. “She just took me outside the room with a stupid sheet wrapped around her, her ex-boyfriend still naked behind the closed door. She just simply looked at me and said something along the lines of, ‘it’s just easier to be with him, ya know?’” Emily sounded exhausted just talking about it all. “So you know what I did?” Emily asked rhetorically. “I just closed up, nodded my head, and walked away. Closing myself off was much easier to deal with then actually addressing the fact that I wasn’t the easy person to be with.”

 

Kelley instinctively reached out and grabbed Emily’s hand. Emily didn’t pull away, she even held onto Kelley’s hand tighter. “It wasn’t you that wasn’t easy to be with. You know that, right?”

 

Emily nodded her head, “Yeah, I figured that out a little while later. I knew that she needed time to really come to terms with her sexuality and I helped with the process in some way. But every time I look back on that, I just think that it’s easier to be with other people than me.” Emily wiped a tear away. “And I’m not saying this was the same experience by any means. She was just not ready to come out, but a part of me broke when I saw you and Hope because I thought you had come to the same realization as her.”

 

“Oh Em, that’s the farthest thing from the truth. Hope was just being an ass hat.”

 

Emily looked over at Kelley and cracked a little smile. “Did you just say ‘ass hat’?”

 

Kelley shrugged her shoulders with a small smile, “I did and I’ll say it again.”

 

“So to be 100% clear, you have no feelings for Hope?”

 

“Correct!” Kelley was nodding her head vigorously.

 

“And you love me?” Emily asked.

 

Kelley nearly shouted her answer. “Yes!”

 

“This is awkward…” Emily grimaced. Kelley’s face fell quickly; she was sure that they were going to make it through this.

 

“Oh,” was all Kelley could make out.

 

“Yeah…just messing. I love you too.” Emily had a goofy smile on her face.

 

Kelley shot up at Emily’s response and pointed her index finger at Emily, “You ASSHAT! Why would you scare me like that?!”

 

“I’m sorry! I thought if I joked I’d lighten the mood.” Emily gave Kelley a cute smile.

 

“Ah, fuck it.” It seemed to be Kelley’s mantra for the night. She grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her to a standing position. Kelley closed the distance with a bit of hunger in her eyes. They broke apart from the kiss slightly breathless.

 

“So does this mean we’re good?” Kelley asked.

 

“Yes.” Emily said and placed another kiss on Kelley’s lips.

 

Still embracing each other, Kelley asked, “So what do you want to tell the coaches?”

 


	20. Valentine's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for going MIA for over a month! Turns out grad school, teaching, work, and PT three times a week takes up a lot of time...then there was the writers block. This might be a rough chapter so bear with me as I get my writing mojo back! :) Plus when is a better time to update than the original start of this story!
> 
> P.S My gf cousin's and her husband are here for Thanksgiving and he used to work for the USWNT back when they won the world cup. Do you know how hard it was to play it cool when they had official USWNT luggage?! Hint: SUPER HARD.

 

After spending another hour on the roof, Kelley and Emily decided to head back down. Kelley wouldn’t let Emily’s hand go as they walked the halls towards Emily’s room.

 

The door was barely open a crack when they heard Ali call out, “Sonny! If you aren’t with O’Hara, then you better go back up to the roof and make up!”

 

Kelley and Emily walked deeper into the room. Ali spotted their interlocked hands and a broad smile spread across her face.

 

Ali hopped off the bed in a swift motion and pulled the two in a group hug. Once Ali pulled away, she grabbed something out of her back pocket and handed it to Kelley. Kelley looked down at the hotel key in her hand, a confused expression on her freckled face.

 

“I think you should spend the night here. I feel like I need a bonding session with Tobin. Don’t worry, she won’t know why I actually switched with you.” Ali said with a wink.

 

Kelley was actually blushing when she accepted the key from Ali. Within minutes, Ali was out the door and on her way down the hall towards Kelley’s old room. It only took a minute before Emily had Kelley’s shirt off and they were on the bed. They spent the rest of the night making up for the fight.

  

* * *

 

 

It was the morning of Valentine’s Day and Kelley kissed Emily’s jaw line to wake her up. Emily was greeted with coffee and told they were going to have the morning to themselves. An hour later, Kelley had brought them to a hidden garden in the city. Kelley and Emily sat on a faded brown bench along the path through the garden. Emily linked her fingers through Kelley’s and sighed contentedly.

 

“Tell me something you don’t usually tell people.” Kelley asked seriously.

 

Normally, Emily hated when people asked broad yet deep questions. They always left her feeling like she couldn’t answer adequately. She was worried when she did answer it would make her come across as shallow for saying something vague. But then again, this was Kelley asking, so Emily couldn’t really complain.

 

Emily took a few seconds to think about a proper response. She took a deep breath. “I want to be liked. That’s why I crack jokes all the time.”

 

“Really?” Kelley’s eyebrows shot up. Her freckled forehead was lined with confusion.

 

“I want everyone to like me even though I know it is unrealistic. There are people you just don’t click with. I’ve met a few. I kind of hate that I care so much. I guess I overcompensate with jokes, ya know? Cause people aren’t going to immediately like me based on my looks.” Emily scrunched her face up.

 

Kelley reached for Emily’s hand and squeezed it to grab her attention. “I think you’re beautiful.”

 

Emily gave Kelley a sheepish smile, “You don’t have to say that because you feel obligated.”

 

“Em, take the compliment. I meant it. But thank you for sharing that with me.” Kelley kissed Emily’s temple.

 

“You’re right, sorry.” Emily gave Kelley a quick kiss.

 

Kelley sighed, “I guess I should offer up a secret as well.”

 

“Well, it’s only fair.” Emily smirked.

 

Kelley pursed her lips before she began to explain. “I want to be remembered. I’m actually really scared of being forgotten.”

 

“How so?” Emily prompted.

 

“There is this saying, ‘they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.’ Have you heard of it?”

 

Emily responded with a nod. She had only heard it once before from a psychology professor two semesters ago.

 

“I don’t want to die without making an impact. I don’t care if I am remembered by one of two people but I just want to make a positive change in someone’s life. The kind of change that a person will tell stories about to others.”

 

Emily nodded to what Kelley had said before asking, “How do you want to make an impact?”

 

In all her years, Kelley had never been asked that, even by her best friends and family. When you were a professional athlete, no one really thought there was anything else you would want to do with your life.

 

“I…well….” Kelley hesitated because she wasn’t exactly sure what the answer to that question was. “I guess I don’t really know yet. I always wanted to be the expert at something or the best in some field. My original plan was to focus on making a large impact on the environment that not only improved the lives of people but also the environment on a large scale. But even before then, I had this faraway dream, that started when I was twelve, to win the World Cup.” Kelley playfully shoved Emily for giving her a knowing look.

 

“Okay, it was a faraway dream then! But I wanted to win the World Cup and continue to change the face of women’s soccer. Then I got called up and suddenly, I’m training to be a defender. Don’t get me wrong, I am still so grateful for the opportunity but it kind of put a wrench in my plans. The thing is, as you probably have realized, defenders don’t get the same recognition as strikers. Since then, I have taken a back seat of making a change in the soccer world.” Kelley held a sad smile on her face.

 

Emily thought about what Kelley said, “I think now might an optimal time to make a change and impact soccer.”

 

“Yeah?” Kelley asked.

 

“You guys just won the World Cup for the first time in years and have a gold medal from the Olympics. The sports world is focusing more attention on the team than ever before. Kel, you were involved in every World Cup game so you have a stronger voice on the team than you think. Maybe you should be one of the faces for Equal Pay.” Emily was excited at her own idea for Kelley.

 

Kelley couldn’t help but smile at Emily’s enthusiasm, “I think you are absolutely brilliant!”

 

She grabbed Emily’s face between her hands and pulled Emily in. Kelley enjoyed the several seconds she was able to explore Emily’s mouth. But Kelley pulled away before she acted on the warmth growing in her stomach. Her body was yearning for things that were far from a descent thing to do in public.

 

Kelley stood up from the bench and Emily grabbed Kelley’s outstretched hand. They held hands and proceed to walk down the pathway in the blooming garden.

 

“What are you doing later?” Emily asked out of general curiosity.

 

“I get to help my brother and my future sister in law later today.” Kelley offered up.

 

“Oh yeah? Care to elaborate?” Emily asked.

 

“I have to babysit Jerry and Kristy to make sure they don’t start pretending the scanners are laser guns.” At that, Emily’s eyebrows shot up questioningly. Kelley clarified, “Wedding registry stuff.”

 

Emily smiled at thought, “Sounds like a fun afternoon.”

 

“I’m going to miss you.” Kelley’s voice was quiet and she kicked a pebble with her shoe.

 

“I’m going to miss you too, but it won’t be too long before we see each other.” Emily squeezed Kelley’s hand. After a few seconds, Emily cleared her throat nervously. “So I was wondering, is there any chance you would want to meet my family?”

 

“HA! I’ve already groped your sister.” Kelley stopped walking and turned to Emily. “But I’d love to.” She beamed at Emily, who beamed right back.

 

“On one condition.” Kelley held up one long index finger. “As long as you are willing to meet mine. It might be easier if you meet siblings before my pare-…”

 

Emily interrupted Kelley’s statement with a passionate kiss. Kelley did not mind the interruption.

 

“I love you.” Kelley whispered with her forehead pressed against Emily’s.

 

“I love you too.” Emily replied.


	21. Interogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Sorry, it would seem that I really want to update around holidays. Here are my updates:
> 
> 1\. My first semester of grad school is over, I survived. Why is this important? I'll have a month or so of time to actually write more chapters!
> 
> 2\. I went to the pharmacy to pick some stuff up and the aide asked if I was related to Tobin Heath. To which I responded with, I wish -but there is actually a small chance I am. So that made my entire month of December. (not important but I still wanted to share)
> 
> 3\. Back to the actual story, this chapter Kelley and Emily don't really interact. It's more focused on the individuals with their friends.
> 
> 4\. Sorry for grammar and spelling mistakes. My girlfriend was only able to look at a little bit of it and I decided to say 'fuck it' and post it even though it's not fully edited!
> 
> Let me know what y'all think!

 

The buzzing on Emily’s phone startled her. She was back in Portland for preseason meetings after the national camp. Emily looked at the readout: _Sam_.

 

The ringing stopped before Emily could answer it. Feeling a little lazy, Emily sat back on the couch and planned to call Sam back later. She sat her phone down on the table, sending a quick text off to Kelley letting her know she was back, and closed her eyes.

 

Within seconds, her phone buzzed again letting her know she received a text. Emily didn’t even have a chance to grab her phone before it buzzed another three times. After unlocking her phone, more texts came pouring in.

 

12:29 pm _Em_

 

12:29 pm _Em_

 

12:29 pm _Emily_

 

12:30 pm _Emily!_

 

12:30 pm _Hello there?_

 

12:30 pm _Em…_

12:30 pm _Hi_

12:30 pm _BANANA!_

Emily started laughing at Sam’s texts. She could hear Sam’s voice in her head mimicking a Minion for the last text. Without hesitation, Emily pressed the green dial button. She laughing at her friend’s antics, only one ring went before Sam picked up.

 

“Ah ha! I knew you’d pick up after I texted.” Sam said cheerfully.

 

Emily laughed, “You are so annoying.”

 

“Want to live together next semester?” Sam abruptly asked.

 

Emily scrunched her face in confusion, “Are you in denial?”

 

“Huh? No…” Sam answered confused.

 

“I hate to break it to you but we graduate in a few months. So there will not be another semester.” Emily tried to explain in a calm voice in case Sam was actual delusional.

 

Sam cackled. “Speak for yourself!”

 

Emily gulped, “Do you have another semester at Virginia? I thought you actually had almost enough credits for two degrees.”

 

“Well duh!” Sam’s response left Emily in more confusion. “I’m getting my PhD!”

 

Sam’s words caused Emily’s mouth to hang open. “That is amazing, Sam! In what?!”

 

“Community Health! I took that one public health class and thought, ‘damn, this is dope.’ The rest was history.”

 

“When did you even apply?” Emily laughed.

 

“If you weren’t so busy flirting with my cousin at Thanksgiving, you might have noticed applications open on my laptop.” Sam giggled in pure excitement.

 

“Which school?! When did you find out?!” Sometimes Emily felt like she had to drag the information out of Sam.

 

“Oh! Well, I saw the acceptance for this particular school a whole five minutes ago.”

 

“Did you apply to more than one?” Emily asked before Sam could finish.

 

“Yeah, I got into three but this was my top pick!” Even through the phone, Emily could almost hear Sam smiling as she said this.

 

“Which is…?” Emily probed.

 

“Right. I thought you would have figured that out by my first question but I see someone is losing their mental sharpness from being out of school.” Sam giggled to herself. She enjoyed the suspense. “Portland State.”

 

Emily nearly dropped her phone in excitement. “You’re not shitting me, are you? That is so amazing! Of course we can live together! Wait, are you secretly in love with me and following me because you can’t be without me?”

 

The sudden silence on the other end of Emily’s phone caught her off guard. Each passing second, Emily’s stomach began to drop.

 

“Sam…” Emily pleaded.

 

“Ha! Just fucking with you. You totally believed me, didn’t you?!” Sam laughed loudly into the phone. “Kelley must really be feeding into your ego.”

 

“I…she…what? Is not!” Emily sputtered.

 

“Jeez. What a well thought out sentence.” Sam joked. “So how are you two?”

 

* * *

 

_Meanwhile in New Jersey…_

 

Kelley threw her bags down and fell onto the couch. She was completely exhausted but relieved to finally be back in Jersey. In ten more minutes, she told herself, she would get off the couch and unpack from camp. After a minute, she looked down at her phone. Kelley was waiting to get a text from Emily letting her know she made it back to her apartment safely. She sighed, staring at her phone wasn’t going to make Emily text back any sooner. Kelley leaned her head back and closed her eyes, slouching further into their comfy couch. The clock in the kitchen ticked the seconds away and after only 30 seconds, Kelley took a quick peak at her phone. She was falling hard for the blonde across the country.

 

“That’s the third time you’ve checked your phone.” Kelley jumped and quickly looked up. She made eye contact with both Sam Kerr and Nikki Stanton, who made the observation.

 

“Yeah Kel, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were waiting for a text from someone.” Sam’s Australian accent rang out. The pair stood in the hallway with smirks on their faces. Nikki and Sam both played with her on Sky Blue.

 

The two stood in contrast to each other. Nikki had long blonde hair and freckles that lined her pale face. While Sam had a constant tan and always kept her dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail with a center part.

 

“Um, what? I have not!” Kelley defended herself.

 

Sam crossed her arms across her chest. “Convincing argument. Really.”

 

Nikki moved to sit on the left side of Kelley and Sam sat on her right. Kelley clenched her eyes shut preparing for the impending interrogation.

 

Nikki gave her a sweet smile, “So, who is she?”

 

“Who?” Kelley played innocent.

 

“Your lover.” Sam emphasized the last word. With that, Nikki reached behind Kelley and playfully slapped Sam’s shoulder, rolling her eyes.

 

“I do not have a ‘lover.’ And please never use the word again. Bleh.” Kelley scrunched her nose up.

 

Sam smirked and looked at Nikki with a mischievous look in her eye. An unspoken conversation seemed to pass between them, that Nikki finished with a wink towards the Australian.

 

Nikki and Sam shifted to sit on the brown coffee table directly in front of Kelley. They leaned in with their elbows on their knees, less than two feet from Kelley’s face.  Kelley’s eyes grew wide with uncertainty.

 

“We could do this the easy way or the hard way.” Sam began.

 

Nikki whipped her head around to look at Sam, “Obviously the hard way since she dodged our previous questions, doofus.”

 

Sam giggled, “You called me doofus.”

 

Nikki turned her attention back to Kelley with a stare as did Sam, though she was fighting off a smile.

 

“Anyway.” Nikki started the process again. “What’s her name?”

 

“How old is she?” Sam asked right after Nikki.

 

“Where did you meet her?” Nikki followed.

 

“Is she from Stanford?” Sam asked.

 

“Is she from Georgia?” Nikki countered.

 

“Is she hot?” Sam questioned which earned a small look from Nikki.

 

“What does she do for a living?” Nikki asked.

 

“Does she play soccer?” Sam was now bouncing in her seat from excitement.

 

“Oh! Does she play in the NWSL?” Sam asked before Nikki could ask another question.

 

“Oh my god, what if she’s on our team!” Nikki yelled.

 

“She is not, she’s on Portland’s team!” The words escaped her mouth before Kelley could stop them. Her hands flew to her mouth in surprise.

 

Meanwhile, Nikki’s mouth dropped open and Sam beamed. Both were shocked that their interrogation actually worked.

 

“Holy” Nikki began to say.

 

“Shit” Sam finished for her.

 

“I…I didn’t…she doesn’t? I mean…? What I’m trying to say is…” Kelley couldn’t finish her sentence. She leaned back into the couch in disbelief. In front of her, Sam and Nikki had huge grins on their faces. Kelley took a deep breath, “She doesn’t play for Portland?”

 

“Wow.” Nikki shook her head but still carried a smile.

 

Sam lifted her chin a little and grinned, “You really are terrible at lying tonight. This girl has Kelley flustered. Must be the real deal.” Sam nudged Nikki’s shoulder.

 

“Fine. I’ll admit, there is someone. Is that enough for you two goons? Will be leave me be?” Kelley nearly pleaded.

 

“You’re so funny.” Nikki dragged on the ‘so’. “But no.”

 

“Do we know her?” Sam asked.

 

Nikki smiled, “There are less than 30 girls this could be.”

 

“Guys…” Kelley barely got a word in before Sam carried on.

 

Sam brought her index finger to her chin in fake contemplation. “Is it Tobin? Nah, she’s clearly with Press. How about Horan? Wait, she’s straight. Klingenberg? Nope, not your type.”

 

As though a light bulb went off, Nikki’s face lit up. “Hold that thought. She has to be on the national team.”

 

“And why is that?” Kelley asked in hopes to throw them off her track.

 

Nikki stared her down, “If you’ve met someone in the past few months, it would most likely be someone you’ve been spending a lot of time with. Therefore, she must be on the national team.”

 

“I’m craving a sandwich.” Sam randomly blurts, breaking the eye contact between Kelley and Nikki.

 

“Really?” Nikki looked at Sam in disbelief.

 

Sam guiltily smiled, “Sorry. So your girl is on the national team.”

 

“I actually met her at a family gathering, so there is that.” Kelley said hoping to throw them off.

 

Sam pursed her lips, “Jeez, American’s have some lose guidelines on relationships.”

Kelley looked at her confused.

 

“What?” The thought dawned on her, Sam actually thought Kelley might be in a relationship with a distant cousin. “Gross Sam, no. Friend of my cousin.”

 

Sam’s forehead relaxed and Nikki gave a small shake of her head.

 

“She’s a soccer player that is friends with one of your family members?” Nikki was trying to confirm what Kelley was hoping she wouldn’t connect.

 

Just then, Kelley’s phone lit up on the cushion next to her. She didn’t have to look at it to know it was Emily. In another situation, Kelley would have been relieved but she looked at her phone in a panicked expression.

 

“What do we have here?” Nikki smirked. Before Kelley could reach for her phone, Sam lurched herself into Kelley’s lap. By the time Kelley was able to clear Sam’s ponytail out of her eyes, Nikki had her phone.

 

Nikki’s eyebrow’s drew together. She wasn’t able to unlock Kelley’s phone; she knew Nikki wouldn’t try but she was able to see who sent the message.

 

“Sonny?” Nikki looked at Sam to see if she had any ideas.

 

“Sonny? Hmm…last or first name? Wait, that would be a weird first name. So last.” Sam stayed on Kelley’s lap as she pondered the mystery contact. “Portland team with ‘Sonny’. Sonny…so she is relatively new.” Sam’s eyes lit up and her mouth dropped open.

 

Kelley’s eyes grew wide and her forehead creased _. Shit_ , she thought. Nikki started to poke Sam, waiting for her to revealed her grand discovery. Sam was holding onto the fact that she connected everything.

 

She turned to Kelley, while still sitting on her lap. “My, my. Miss. Kelley here has a thing for recent graduates. How funny that you like the first round draft pick.”

 

“First round draft?” Nikki’s eyes were focused trying to recall the draft from a month ago. “Oh my god, it’s Emily Sonnett!”


	22. Facetime Interruptions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK!! SO I had major writers block and then I traveled to Seattle and Portland to visit PhD schools. On top of that, I decided to be an idiot that takes 12 credit in grad school on top of 25 hours of teaching and research. 
> 
> I finally got a chance to write yesterday when the snow got heavy and my university closed halfway through the day. This chapter is more fluff to just bridge the story to get it to where I want to go. I think there are a few more chapters left in this story (at least 5) and then I think I'll be ready for a new storyline. So any suggestions, let me know!

“So they found out?” Emily asked.

 

“I totally acted like a spy keeping a secret, but they pulled it out of me. They should be detectives!” Kelley said exasperatedly.

 

Emily’s laugh chuckled through the Facetime on Kelley’s laptop. “Somehow I doubt that’s how it happened.”

 

Kelley heard a knock on her door and before she even got the chance to get off of her bed, Sam and Nikki stuck their heads in.

 

“Hope we aren’t interrupting any phone sex.”  Sam said.

 

“Bow chicca wow wow!” Nikki managed to say between giggles.

 

Kelley hung her head and tried to hide her smile. She glanced towards her laptop screen. Emily’s eyes were wide and a clear blush showed through the display. Kelley and Emily made eye contact and Kelley’s breath hitched. _Gosh she_ _’_ _s cute_ , Kelley thought.

 

“Earth to the love birds.” Nikki intoned. Kelley broke the eye contact with Emily and looked over at her roommates.

 

“No phone sex was happening.” Kelley deadpanned as she locked eyes with her roommates.

 

“Yet.” Nikki, Sam, and Kelley’s head all swiveled towards her laptop. Emily smiled at her own joke.

 

Nikki and Sam took the laptop out of Kelley’s lap.

 

“We like you.” Sam said to Emily.

 

Nikki, who now held the laptop, nodded in agreement. “Agreed! Hi there, I’m Nikki Stanton.”

 

“I’m Sam Kerr!” Sam waved at the screen.

 

Emily’s shyness only lasted for a split second before she responded, “Hi! Nice to meet you guys.”

 

“And I’m taking back my girlfriend.” Kelley grabbed the laptop out of Nikki’s hands as she pouted.

 

“Well then.” Nikki pretended to be deeply offended.

 

“Oh get over yourself.” Kelley rolled her eyes. “Don’t you guys have something to do tonight. Like each other.”

 

“Maybe we will!” Sam said quickly in retaliation without thinking. Within a second, she realized what she said and Sam’s eyes went wide.

 

Nikki elbowed Sam in her side. “What Sam means is…um…what she means is we are watching a movie?”

 

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Kelley said. Emily was smiling as she leaned back on her couch and watched the situation unfold from the comfort of Portland.

 

“We are watching a movie. Whatever.” Nikki rolled her eyes. Sam quickly nodded her head in agreement. Nikki grabbed Sam’s hand to lead her out of Kelley’s room.

 

Kelley looked at her screen and whispered to Emily, “Watch this.”

 

“Have fun doing each other!” Kelley yelled after them.

 

“We will!” Nikki yelled back from the hallway. A quieter “Dammit” followed.

 

As Nikki and Sam went farther down the hallway, Kelley could hear Sam’s Australian accent, “Do you think she knows?”

 

Kelley glanced down at her laptop screen and the minute she locked eyes with Emily, they burst out into laughter.

 

Once they were able to calm themselves down, Emily said, “They seem nice.”

 

Kelley shrugged her shoulder and smiled, “They’re alright.”

 

“And they are together?” Emily asked.

 

“Well they think they’re extremely subtle but I saw Sam pinch Nikki’s butt when she thought no one was looking. Then all their vibes became super obvious since then.”

 

“At least they think they are subtler than us. We’re as subtle as an ox in an antique shop.” Emily stated.

 

Kelley’s whole body shook at her chuckle. “I think you mean bull in a china shop.”

 

Emily’s face scrunched up, “I think my way sounds cooler.”

 

The pause couldn’t have been more than 5 seconds before Emily blurted out, “So I asked someone to move in with me.”

 

Kelley knitted her eyebrows together. “Oh?” Her thoughts began to run in rapid fire. _Who was this girl? Had Emily mentioned meeting a new friend? Was this girl going to flirt with Emily? I mean Portland has a high lesbian population. Was she going to fall for Emily? I mean who wouldn_ _’_ _t? She_ _’_ _s amazing and funny. Oh god._

 

Emily could see Kelley’s concern pass across her face. It was moments like this that made Emily wish she could read minds. By the time Kelley’s face settled on a look of worry with her eyebrows raised and eyes wide, Emily decided to speak up.

 

Kelley took a deep breath and focused when Emily began to speak again.

 

“Relax.” Emily chuckled.

 

“Relax? I’m totally calm. Why wouldn’t I be calm? I’m not like one of those crazy, jealous girlfriends. Totally chill.” Kelley rambled. She cursed under her breathe. Kelley prided herself on being calm in any situation but there was something about Emily that left butterflies in her stomach.

 

Emily outright laughed at this point. “Cool as a cucumber. Never really understood that saying. But anyway, don’t worry you actually know the person.”

 

“It’s gotta be Lindsay? Tobin?” Kelley guessed.

 

“If you’d let to finish…” Emily smiled over at Kelley through her computer and was rewarded with a cute, sheepish grin from Kelley. “It’s actually Sam.”

 

“As in my cousin Sam?”

 

“Yeah, still not completely over the fact she never officially told me you were her cousin. However, that’s beside the point. I don’t know when she was going to officially tell your whole family but I figured I can share the secret with you. That little nut is going to get her PhD.”

 

“That’s so amazing! Where is she going?”

 

“Portland State and OSHU, they have some dual program in community health. She told me she’s going to be a Riveter.” Emily smirked.

 

“Cloud 9 will feel betrayed!” Kelley half yelled but smiled. “Wait, I can’t compete with a PhD. She’s going to be the favorite grandchild again!”

“Compete? Your family is so competitive. But I think your Olympic gold medal and World Cup Championship will rank you pretty high on the list.”

 

Kelley thought about what Emily said, “If you think so but this just means I’m going to make sure to send a card on Grandparents day.” Emily gave Kelley a quizzical look. “It’s September 10th in case you were wondering. At least I know I rank pretty high on your list.”

 

Emily’s face construed into a grimace. “This is awkward but…” Emily couldn’t hold in her giggles and said, “Of course.”

 

In the background Emily could hear Sam and Nikki trying to yell for Kelley.

 

“She wants to watch the Bachelor without you!” Nikki yelled from down the hall.

 

Kelley jumped up from her bed and stuck her head out her bedroom door, “If I hear that intro start before I’m there, you will suffer the consequences!”

 

She returned back to her bed and gave Emily a sweet smile despite the threat she issued seconds earlier. “I need to go before Sam ruins our friendship by watching ahead.”

 

“Only logical.” Emily nodded along.

 

“I’ll call you tomorrow. Goodnight, I love you.”

 

Emily looked at Kelley as she took a second to study the fact she managed to look beautiful after a day of traveling. She felt so lucky as she responded, “I love you too.”


	23. In a Rut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelley and Emily have a heart to heart when they're together for the 2016 US vs. Columbia game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kind of incorporated a little bit on my life into this, oops. I've had a rough week with blatantly sexist professors, insanely hard biostatistic homework, and now an undergrad is putting words in my mouth. 
> 
> Anyway, off of my mini rant, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It takes a little more of a serious note. Be prepared for some emotional rollercoasters in the last few chapters of this story!

****It is now April, Emily and Kelley are together before the US vs Columbia match****

 

Kelley and Emily walked hand in hand in the deserted park. Eventually they had found a bench that was secluded in a small clearing in the trees. After sitting in silence for several moments, Kelley realized that something was going on, since Emily was unusually quiet.

 

Kelley studied Emily’s face, “Want to talk about it?”

 

“Me? Nothing to talk about.” Emily said too quickly.

 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I just thought I’d ask in case you wanted to.”

 

After another minute of silence Emily spoke up.

 

“She said I had an off practice. That consistency was what it takes to stay on the national team.” Emily’s eyes crinkled as she tried to hold back tears. She quickly leaned forward and laid her head in her hands.

 

Kelley put her left hand on Emily’s lower back. It took less than a second for Kelley to realize that Emily was talking about Jill Ellis. They were only two days into the minicamp and the coaches made it clear they were narrowing down the Olympic roster.

 

“We all have inconsistent days. But we just have to take the critiques from the coaches with a nod and apply them later. I mean there is sometimes some crying in between the critique and the application.” Kelley hated when Emily was upset.

 

Emily picked her head up from her hands, “That’s easy for you to say. Do you know who you are? Your soccer resume speaks for itself. You are just so gifted.”

 

In another situation, Kelley would have made a joke about the comment. Instead she answered Emily seriously.

 

“Not always. May I remind you I was once a forward? The national coaches decided I wasn’t meant to be a forward and they needed a defender. So for months I had to completely adjust my style of play to fit the defender role. And despite the fact I was doing the coaches a favor by filling a position they so desperately needed, they tore me apart. These camps became a major source of stress for me.”

 

Emily looked at Kelley in surprise. She had just assumed the transition in position went seamlessly for Kelley, but now she realized that was a foolish thought. Of course making a drastic change from forward to back would be hard.

 

“I guess I never thought about that. I’m sorry. How’d you cope with the stress?” Emily asked.

 

“Surfing and a lot of ignoring my feelings about my problems. I pretended I was happy until I eventually made it through it all. Plus, I made sure I still loved the game.” Kelley let out a sarcastic laugh at the thought of her past self. “I don’t recommend the deflecting feelings part though.” Kelley added.

 

Emily sighed, “I just feel like I’m stuck in this rut. I want to be the consistent player the coaches want. Then I get stressed from not playing well and the coaches talk to me which makes me more stressed. It’s like a never-ending loop.”

 

“When was the last time you were truly happy?” Kelley turned towards Emily.

 

Emily looked at Kelley like she had said something insane. “Happy?”

 

“Yes, that’s what I said. When was the last time you were truly happy? And don’t say something related to me. Even though I’m awesome.” Kelley shrugged her shoulders as she finished. A smile spread over here face that made her freckles dance. She hoped this question could re-center Emily.

 

Emily’s face relaxed a little and she pursed her lips in thought. “I guess…well I mean…who asks that kind of question?!” Emily looked over at Kelley like she had suddenly begun a conversation with a PhD in philosophy.

 

Kelley chucked. “I know it seems out there. It’s a really simple question in theory but insanely hard to answer.”

 

Emily nodded her head. This wasn’t the type of question you give a half-assed answer to, at least not to Kelley. Kelley leaned back on the bench and patiently waited. She watched Emily think about her past. A small smile spread over Kelley’s face, she loved Emily’s thinking face.

 

“My favorite place.” Emily nodded.

 

Kelley waited a few seconds for Emily to expand upon her simple sentence. She leaned her head forward and turned towards her left to look at Emily. Emily’s facial expressions calmed at the thought of her favorite place.

 

After several seconds passed, Kelley asked “Care to explain?”

 

“Oh right!” Emily’s attention snapped back. “So my favorite place is a place I’ve only been to once and it was about 6 years ago.” She paused as Kelley lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

 

“I know what you are thinking. How could I have a favorite place that I only have one memory of? A favorite place should be somewhere you can go to escape. I do plan to go back there but I just can’t seem to find a moment to.”

 

“No judgement on my end.” Kelley said to encourage Emily to continue.

 

“My club team decided on a whim to go up and play in a sand soccer tournament. Funnily enough, we were all in a rut then. Our coaches decided that getting our mind off the traditional way of playing would reset us. So we made the long trek up to Ocean City, Maryland to play in a sand soccer tournament.”

 

Kelley smiled, “Odd, but sounds like a blast.”

 

“It was. My parents decided to turn it into a mini vacation. After the tournament was over, we ended up staying in a rental house a little bit inland at a place called Ocean Pines.” Emily’s smile grew larger.

 

“On the last full day we were there, I decided to take a beach cruiser and ride around. The Ocean Pines area was a huge place that had their own library, police station, and post office.” Emily explained.

 

“I must have just gone into autopilot and ended up a few miles from our rental at a neighborhood pool and boat ramp area. It people weren’t really at the pool so it kind of felt like I had the entire place to myself. I was exploring by the boat ramp when I noticed this sign. The sign said that there was an oyster sanctuary there and encouraged people to pull on the ropes around the dock. Obviously, I pulled up on the ropes and this cage like thing came out of the water. Inside the cage were all these oysters and crabs. There were ropes with cages at the bottom all over the edges of this dock. I spent over an hour rotating between the cages and just looking out at the water.”

 

Kelley was smiling from ear to ear as Emily’s stress decreased noticeably with each second as she told the story.

 

Emily gave Kelley a smile that was tinted with sadness. “Eventually I had to leave.  I had to help my parents and Emma pack up all of our stuff. But I can still picture the tranquil bay water, the oyster cages, and the tiny waves hitting the docked boats.”

 

A peaceful silence settled over them.

 

“I’d love to go there sometime, if you’d be willing to show me?” Kelley gingerly asked.

 

“I would want nothing more. Plus, you’re the first person to hear about it and you’ll be the first person I take. But it seems unlikely since we’re both so busy.” Emily sighed a little at the end.

 

“I’ll make it happen. Promise.” Kelley place a gentle kiss on Emily’s temple.

 

Emily was ready for a subject change. If she talked about her emotions for too long, she had a tendency to get lost in them.

 

“Do you think Coach has a concussion from Mal hitting her in the head during practice?” Emily offered up.

 

Kelley threw her head back in laughter and clapped her hands. “That was ahh-mazing.”


	24. Surfs Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Like forreal this time :) I had major projects, finals, and papers to write which made my brain a pile of mush. I have the next five chapters written because I suddenly got all these ideas. So if you guys want, I can publish the next chapter on Friday, let me know! 
> 
> I think there will be about 32-34 total chapters in this story which means it's winding down. And what love story doesn't experience some angst? Just be prepared that there will be a few chapters in which you might hate me (unless you like drama).

She Believes Cup (Florida)- Let's pretend it was after the Columbia games

 

**Some of the dates have been shifted- sorry!**

 

“Okay, so lay down on the surfboard.” Kelley watched Emily settle herself, stomach down, on the surfboard in the sand.

 

“So, pretend to paddle, toes flexed on the board like a wave is on the way.” Emily listened to Kelley and began to make small circles with her arms. For a second, Kelley’s focus shifted towards the muscles in Emily’s back. She never really got to see Emily in a bikini, and she planned to enjoy every second of the visual.

 

Emily’s head turned and angled up, which made her back muscles flex even more. Kelley swallowed. Emily looked at her expectantly, “And how far out am I paddling exactly?” A smile played at her mouth and Kelley’s face grew hot.

 

“Right!” Kelley shifted down to get on her own board. “So, you are going to get your hands in a pushup position. Then, as you push up, drag your left foot along the board towards your chest. Plant your left foot down and stand up, trying to keep your balance centered. So bend your knees a little and have your arms out in front and behind you to keep balance.”

 

Emily watched Kelley’s motion. She couldn’t help but admire Kelley’s smooth motions. There was nothing hotter than a woman who knew what she was doing Emily thought, particularly if the woman was Kelley. Emily stumbled as she tried to mimic Kelley’s motion. It didn’t help that her attention was solely focused on Kelley and not on learning to surf.

 

Kelley chuckled to herself. “Not quite.” She moved to put her hands on Emily’s hips.

 

“Angle your hips this way and your knees…” Kelley lightly traced her hand down Emily’s thigh to just above her knee. Emily’s breath hitched. “…give them a slight bend.”

 

Emily listened and Kelley’s hands lingered as she took her time before she returned her hands back to Emily’s hips.

 

“Now your shoulders need to stay back and relaxed as you reach out.” Kelley stepped up close behind Emily. Emily could feel the heat of Kelley’s skin as she placed her hands gently on Emily’s upper back. “Relax your shoulders,” Kelley whispered into Emily’s right ear.

 

“Um... well,” Emily’s heart began to pound. “What?” She couldn’t’ seem to focus as Kelley’s hands moved to her shoulders. “I, well, I can’t…” Emily shifted her gaze to her right. Her nose was barely an inch from Kelley’s.

 

Kelley lost all remaining focus and she closed the short distance between herself and Emily.

 

Emily tried to turn towards Kelley, but her foot got caught in the board’s leash and she stumbled. She laughed at herself before she looked back at Kelley. “We should probably be more careful about doing this in public.”

 

Kelley nodded her head, “I guess we will have to eventually decide if we want to go to go public with this.” The worry in Emily’s eyes made Kelley jump to change the subject. “But in the meantime, why don’t we go back to the hotel and continue this in private.” She winked at Emily.

 

Emily’s neck flushed red and she looked down at the surf board and then over at Kelley. She really did want to learn to surf. But her body had already made the decision for her and she took Kelley’s hand as she lead them back to the hotel.

 

* * *

 

Kelley smirked and began to unlock her phone. “Let’s give the people what they want.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Confusion crossed Emily’s face. Before Emily could respond, Kelley had her phone angled towards her girlfriend as she laid on her back.

 

“Couples massage.” Kelley giggled and turned her camera towards Emily.

 

Emily grumbled and put her arm out as she tried to block the camera. “Stop it.” The minute Emily noticed Kelley was done with her video, she started to laugh.

 

“What the hell was that?” Emily tried to act angry, but a smile creeped onto her face.

 

“I can’t blame them; I ship it.” Kelley wiggled her eyebrows.

 

Emily was generally confused. “Ship what? What are you even talking about?”

 

“You don’t ship So’Hara? I do.” Kelley smiled from ear to ear.

 

Emily propped herself up on her elbows to look at Kelley. She took a minute to figure out what Kelley meant. The shock on Emily’s face caused Kelley to let out a loud laugh.

 

“So’Hara? As in O’Hara and Sonnett? As in the two of us?” Emily’s eyebrows knitted together.

 

Kelley rubbed her hands together and let out a loud laugh. “I see my beautiful girlfriend also has fantastic reasoning skills.”

 

“How did people figure it out?” Emily’s asked, surprise still present in her voice.

 

“Technically it’s just speculation. But it could be the fact that we spend a lot of time together. Or it could be the fact that we just look so great together and people don’t actually know. But I think it’s the fact that you can’t help but look at me with hearts in your eyes.” Kelley walked over to Emily and placed a kiss on her lips.

 

Emily wrapped her arms around Kelley’s slim waist. “I think they must have caught you staring at my amazingly toned ass.”

 

“Hmm, you might be right. I think I need to check it out and make sure it is still ‘amazingly toned.’” Kelley grabbed the side of Emily hips in an attempt to flip her over and stare at her butt.

 

Emily tried to wiggle away and nearly fell of the massage table. “Ahhh!”

 

Kelley caught her around the ribs and rolled Emily on top of her to save her. “I think I deserve a kiss for saving your life.”

 

“I think I could have survived the short fall to the ground.” Emily quirked an eyebrow.

 

“Are you trying to get out of kissing me?” Kelley pouted with her bottom lip.

 

“No.” Kelley barely had time to admire Emily’s smile before Emily had her hand behind Kelley’s head to pull her in. Before their kiss could escalate anymore, they startled apart after a someone briefly cleared their throat.

 

The two turned their heads towards the door to see Lindsay Horan.

 

“What an interesting massage technique, Kelley. What is it called?”

 

“Uh….” Kelley was struggling to find words. Emily remained on top of her after she decided they were already caught.

 

“Oh my, Ms. Kelley is speechless. I could get used to that.” Lindsay laughed. She looked them over and rolled her eyes before she turned behind her yelled down the hallway. “Moe, I owe you $20.”

 

Kelley and Emily heard footsteps before Morgan came into view under the door frame. Morgan looked at Lindsay and smirked, “I told you that you’d walk in on them in some way.”

 

“Hey!” Emily said, offended.

 

“This is not a common occurrence.” Kelley said defiantly.

 

Morgan and Lindsay glanced at each other and laughed. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.” Moe said.

 

After they walked away, Emily turned back to Kelley. She hadn’t moved off of Kelley and had no plan to. “It’s not right?”

 

“Right.” Kelley said with a nod. “I think.” She let out a laugh and pulled Emily back into a kiss.

 

* * *

 

Once Emily’s massage was done, she got off of the table and made her way towards her teammates that had already started to gather for dinner. Kelley was sitting a few chairs down with Alex and Allie next to her. Alex crossed her arms and smirked at Emily as if to dare Emily to ask to switch seats.

 

Instead, Emily sat down next to Horan and Moe. She had only sat down for a minute before the several conversations had overtaken the long dinner table. Emily locked eyes with Kelley before she quickly snapped her head at the mention of her name.

 

“What?” Emily asked, intrigued.

 

“I was just telling Ali and Moe that you know how to surf.” Horan justified that fact that Emily’s name was mentioned.

 

Emily was clearly confused; she didn’t know how to surf. “I what?”

 

Lindsay angled her face down as if she had to look over a pair of glasses. She took a deep breath and looked at Emily like she had been hit in the head. “You literally just learned yesterday.”

 

“Yesterday?” Emily tried to recall the events of yesterday and the sound of Kelley light coughs as she attempted to clear her throat brought the memories back to Emily. A small push started to form on her cheeks. She glanced around and half of the table had stopped talking to listen to the conversation.

 

“Oh.” Emily managed to say as a follow up.

 

Lindsay gave Ali a sideways glance, “I mean if you don’t know how to surf after Kelley spent several hours teaching you, there is no hope.”

 

Emily glanced at Kelley who wore a mixture of surprise at the conversation and pride from what they had actually done yesterday. This only made Emily’s cheeked grow a darker shade of red.

 

Ali seemed to catch on, a bright smile highlighted her face. “Well Lindsay, I’m not sure they even made it to the beach.”

 

It took a second before the realization hit Lindsay and Moe. They glanced between Emily and Kelley. Even Kelley had red cheeks.

 

“Uh guys, we made it to the beach.” Kelley responded.

 

Alex turned to face Kelley, “And how long did you stay at the beach?”

 

Kelley seemed to gain her usual swagger back and she locked eyes with Emily when she said “Maybe five minutes.”

 

Emily couldn’t help but smile back despite the embarrassment at being caught. Then half of the table that had tuned into the conversation erupted in laughter.

 

Emily shrugged her shoulders and stated matter of fact, “I had a hot instructor who knew what she was doing.”

 

Ali let out a laugh and nudged Ash. “You know, I think I suddenly want to learn to surf.”

 

Ashlyn put her arm around Ali’s shoulder, “I have a few tricks.”

 

Moe stuck her tongue out at the comment.

 

Tobin now looked expectantly at Christen. “So if all my surfing buddies are now teaching, does that mean you want a lesson?”


	25. Olympic Downfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this is kind out of order from real events. My bad! It's also not my strongest chapter :/
> 
> I promised someone on tumblr I'd post today and I wanted to be true to my word. I'm trying to publish a scientific paper in a journal so this style of writing feel a tad foreign to me at the moment.
> 
> I'm posting the next chapter on Friday before I leave for a bachelorette weekend (wish me luck because I'm the definition of a light weight). I'll post the following chapter Sunday night because I have a feeling you'll want to know what happens next...
> 
> US games this week, woo!

2016 Olympics. Semi-final against Sweden

 

Emily’s heart dropped. The 75th minute just came to a close and Sweden was still up 1-0. They had maintained most of the possession and had numerous shots but none on target. She sighed. Kelley was just subbed out which Emily knew killed her. She always wanted to be out there on the field fighting along with the team. Emily barely got time to work herself up more when Alex evened the score. 1-1.

 

She had stolen a quick glance down the line at Kelley, but knew Kelley would not return the look. When she was on the field, Kelley was in total soccer mode. With the goal, the team still had a shot. They had so much to prove. Pia Sundhage, one of the US women’s teams most successful coaches before she left for Sweden, sat 100 yards down the sideline. She knew Kelley, Alex, Hope, Tobin, and Carli’s strengths and weaknesses from first-hand experience and it seemed as though she had passed the knowledge to the Swedish players.

 

The final score was 1-1 after overtime, which meant one thing: penalties. Emily hated penalty shoot outs. She never understood how it truly represented a team as a whole. It seemed to only highlight forwards. Occasionally a penalty would highlight a keeper’s skills, but rarely; most of the time it came down to chance and instinct.

 

“Fuck.” Emily whispered under her breath. The teams had time to pick the order and the women headed out to the field.

 

Kelley held her breath. It should not have come to this, she thought. They were the better team through and through. Today, they couldn’t seem to finish the ball and it was one of the worst days to experience such as struggle.

 

Alex stepped up first. Miss. Kelley’s stomach dropped.

 

Schelin was up for Sweden. Goal.

 

Lindsay stepped up. Emily noted she looked serious, but was on the verge of vomiting from the pressure. Goal.

 

The team couldn’t take a breath now; they were still behind.

 

Asllani scored which put Sweden ahead 2-1.

 

Carli scored followed by Sembrant, who missed. 2-2.

 

Brian and Seger both scored. An even 3-3.

 

Press hesitated and in that moment, Emily knew what the result would be. Miss.

 

It felt like the entire world stood still when Dahlkvist scored. They were out of the finals. Kelley’s lungs deflated and her heart broke not only for Christen but for her team. For the young girls that just watched.

 

The entire team was shocked, some cried, while others looked dazed. Kelley finally met Emily’s eyes from afar. Emily couldn’t seem to find words or react to the pain in Kelley’s eyes.

 

Emily’s attention snapped away for a second when she saw Hope aggressively throw a water bottle.

 

“Bunch of cowards.” Hope yelled.

 

Emily’s eyebrows knitted together and she catch eyes with Kelley. She was somehow trying to communicate to Kelley that it was okay if she went to calm Hope down, Emily could admit that only Kelley and Carli seemed to have that power. No one wanted an additional scene after the events that had just occurred before them. Kelley closed her eyes and gave a small shake of her head. Kelley couldn’t deal with Hope. In several hours, she would just want to hold Emily and have her tell her that this was just a day in the many days of her career. But for now, Kelley’s bubbly attitude deflated and she knew it would take a while before this game stopped playing out in her nightmares.

 

* * *

 

In the month that followed the Olympics, Kelley and Emily talked on the phone and texted. There never seemed to talk about the debacle that was the Olympics. It was almost taboo. But the dance around the topic left both of them exhausted. Finally the team was able to gather for a friendly against the Netherlands.

 

Kelley and Emily finally got to have a minute alone, away from their teammates. Kelley could sense Emily’s mood was slightly off and tried to lighten her mood.

 

“You totally blocked Tobin today! She was megging everyone left and right and you put an end to it.” Kelley joked.

 

“Can we not talk about soccer right now.” Emily snapped.

 

Kelley was taken aback by her sudden change in mood, “What are you talking about?”

 

Emily took a deep breath in an attempt to keep her frustration down. “It’s a jealously thing.”

 

“Jealous? Care you explain?” Kelley asked.

 

“You have it all. Well at least all the things I want, and it’s just hard sometimes to watch it all.” Emily wanted to kick herself for admitting that. The thought had been brewing inside her for months and it finally came out. But why didn’t she feel any better? Why did it feel like she just made everything worse?

 

Kelley took a second to wrap her mind around Emily’s statement. _Could she actually be serious? She thinks I have it all? And even if that is barely true, why wouldn’t she be happy for me?_ Kelley thought. She opened her mouth to respond to Emily but stopped, Kelley wasn’t sure what to say.

 

All Kelley could manage to say was, “I...what?”

 

“I didn’t mean it.” Emily quickly said. She was going to make every attempt to take the words back even though they were already out there, hanging between the two of them.

 

“No, you did.” Kelley bit her bottom lip and let it go. “Before I respond, how long have you been feeling like this?”

 

“Since the Olympics,” Emily blurted. _Fuck_ , she thought, she hadn’t meant to say that either.

 

“You mean to tell me that there had been this hidden animosity for a month?!”

 

Emily flinched, “Animosity is a strong word.”

 

“Seriously?!” Kelley threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

 

“Let me explain.” Emily pleaded.

 

Kelley scoffed, “Give it a try.”

 

This wasn’t supposed to have come up. Emily wanted to rewind to five minutes ago. She hadn’t really seen Kelley in person since they got back from the Olympics. No one on the national team was in high spirits and it seemed like everyone wanted a break from Ellis and each other. All of her teammates had parted ways the minute the plane touched down and no one brought up the letdown that happened in Rio. Win together, lose together was a great mantra until you lost when the entire country was watching. When the entire world was expecting you to take home gold. When a gold medal meant more than a game, when it stood for women’s soccer in the US and the hopes and dreams of little girls. Now the national team was all back together, but something felt off about the atmosphere.

 

“You actually played in the Olympics while I never got to put a jersey on. I should have been the ball girl based on how shitty I’ve been playing. But you still thrived and never lost your confidence after it. Meanwhile, I don’t know how many national games I’m ever going to play.”

 

Kelley gave Emily a look that conveyed what she was feeling, a look that said that said _you’ve got to be shitting me_.

 

“You think I wasn’t upset about the outcome of the Olympics? It seems like you’re pissed I’ve still been playing well.” Kelley said in disbelief.

 

“I realize how bad that sounds. It’s not like I’m not happy for you, it’s about how I’m handling it in comparison to myself.” Emily paused. “Which also sounds bad now that I said that out loud. What I actually mean is, I’m immature.”

 

Kelley pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

 

“And sorry.” Emily added to which Kelley responded with another raise of her eyebrows.

 

“And you’re really pretty.” Emily said as a follow up. Kelley folded her arms across her chest and struggled to hide the small smiled that played at her lips.

 

“And you can call me a goofus face until the day that I die.” Emily pouted after she said that one.

 

Kelley bit her bottom lip and smiled. She reached to wrap her arms around Emily’s waist and pulled her in, “A goofus face seems a bit harsh.”

 

Emily gave a small smile before she tried to return her features to a stern expression, “A goon will do.”

 

“You’re my goon.” Kelley leaned in and placed a light kiss on Emily’s lips. She pulled back a little from Emily so she could look her in the eyes. “But in all seriousness, you need to tell me when you’re feeling like that. I’m supposed to be here for you and help you through these kind of thoughts. But we also need to be here for each other when one of us is having more ‘ups’ than the other. We play on different teams and one of us is bound to have better games sometimes, so we need to make sure to support each other.”

 

Emily nodded her head and pulled Kelley in for a tight hug. “I promise.” She whispered in Kelley’s ear. Emily had a feeling, her worries wouldn’t subside all that quickly but she has Kelley there to help her.

 


	26. If Things Don't Slow Down Soon, We Might Not Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So I'm sorry for two reasons:
> 
> 1\. I told you I'd post this a month ago but I made edits and then didn't like the flow of things. BUT here is is now!
> 
> 2\. You might hate me after you read the end of the chapter. The next chapter is written and just needs to be proof read. I will honestly post it Friday!
> 
> P.S Some of you might know that people have been sending me one shot requests on tumblr. Should I post them here? Let me know! Also keep the request coming because they get me back into writing mode so I can actually finish this story! (heathbar17 in case you didn't know my handle)
> 
> P.P.S Again, don't hate me after you finish!
> 
> P.P.P.S Honestly last note, I hope some of you might recognize the song I quoted in the title!

 

 

Nikki had run up behind Kelley and poked her in the lower back.

 

“So, which one is she?” Nikki joked. Kelley had spun her head around as she rolled her eyes at Nikki. She didn’t have time to respond before it was her turn to do the warm up drill. Once she reached the other side, Kelley nearly ran into Sam, who had just finished the drill but stopped abruptly.

 

The Aussie turned to Kelley. “Which one is she?” Sam nodded her head towards the Thorns warming up on the other side of Yurack Field. She had a mischievous smirk.

 

Nikki had now joined them, and Kelley regarded both of them. “Are you guys in sync or something?”

 

Nikki looked confused for a split second and then she pursed her lips together. She bumped Sam with her hip, “You said I could make the joke.”

 

Sam smiled sheepishly at Nikki, “My bad.”

 

“Anyway.” Nikki turned her attention back on Kelley.

 

“Don’t worry, we know who she is.” Sam said.

 

“Yeah, the blonde with the cute butt.” Nikki smirked.

 

“Oy!” Sam feigned hurt. “But I agree.”

 

Kelley had felt the blush creep from her neck which only encouraged the two to gawk at her girlfriend across the field.

 

“Oh my god guys, can you not stare?!” Kelley pleaded.

 

As if on cue, Emily glanced their way. She almost began to blush when she noticed she had been caught looking for Kelley by not only Kelley herself but also Nikki Stanton and Sam Kerr. But then she realized Kelley had a light rose color that coated her cheeks. Kelley caught her eye and a smile had spread across her face. Emily mirrored the smile to Kelley. This only seemed to excite Sam and Nikki more. They whispered in Kelley’s ear and Sam let out a loud laugh that even Emily could hear.

 

Emily jumped at the sound of Lindsay’s voice. “So are you just going to stare at your girlfriend or are you actually going to do the drills with me?”

 

It only took a second before the blush crept up on her face. “Shut up. I’ll be there shortly…the Great Horan.”

 

Lindsay rolled her eyes and went 20 paces down the field as she prepared for their passing drill. Emily glanced back at Kelley and gave her a small wave and a wink. It was time for both of them to get into game mindset.

  

* * *

 

 *Back in Portland*

“That’s it. I’m dropping out of school. Quitting life.” Sam said as she entered the apartment.

 

“Ditto.” Emily looked towards her right at Sam. She had positioned herself on the couch and couldn’t find the motivation to get up and clean much less do anything. It was starting to scare her how much motivation she had lost over the past several days.

 

Sam grabbed a cider from the fridge and sat down in a heap next to Emily. “Rough workout?”

 

“No shit.” Emily snapped. She bit her bottom lip. What did she say that? She couldn’t even begin to figure out where the anger came from. To be honest, it kind of scared her.

 

Sam’s eyebrows shot up in concern. “Alright then. You good?”

 

A sense of dread had hit Emily quickly. In a split second, she went from angry to feeling panicked. Her skin felt hot and itchy, her heart rate elevated, and her breathing became shallow. Emily clenched her fist. She was sure she wasn’t going to survive this feeling.

 

Sam could sense the change immediately. She got off the couch and sat at Emily’s feet and grabbed her hands.

 

“Can you look me in the eyes.” Emily attempted to make eye contact with Sam. “Great. Now I’m going to let go on this hand.” Sam lifted up her left hand and Emily’s right hand that were intertwined. She let go of Emily’s hand. “Now, Em, can you put that hand on your stomach. You’re breathing should come from here.”

 

Emily tried to shift her breathing from her shoulders to her stomach. She wasn’t sure she could do it but after she looked back into Sam’s eyes, she felt her stomach expand and inflate underneath her hand.

 

“Tell me two things you can smell right now.” Sam said.

 

“Febreeze.” Emily took another minute. “Your cider.”

 

“Now three things you can see.”

 

Emily exhaled a slow and shaky breath.  “The TV. The weird succulent in the corner. And your ugly face.” Emily managed to smirk at the end which caused Sam to smile in return.

“Care to tell me what that was.” Sam stated as she returned back to the couch next to Emily.

 

“A panic attack, I think.” Emily couldn’t make eye contact.

 

Sam let out a sarcastic laugh. “As you said earlier, ‘no shit.’ But why did it happen?” Emily simply shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, then how long have they been happening?” Sam followed.

 

Emily let out a long sigh, she felt tired from the attack. “Two months.” Again, she couldn’t make eye contact with Sam.

 

Sam turned her body to completely face Emily. “Dude, you need to see a doctor.”

 

“I know. I keep having these random flashes of anger and these moments when I’m completely numb.” Emily started twisting her fingers together.

 

“Okay, that’s definitely not good. I wish you had told me. I can tell you don’t want to talk about it but please come to me if you want to talk about anything. Obviously I can’t tell you what to do but it might be a really good idea to talk to a doctor about it.” Sam said sincerely.

 

Emily paused before she answered. “I’ll think about it.” She could snap herself out of it, at least that’s what she kept telling herself.

 

* * *

  

It had only been one week since she had seen Kelley, but Emily missed her. At the same time, Emily couldn’t shake the bitter feelings about her friends and girlfriend being in Sweden as they represented their country while she was stuck here. She felt the numb feeling creeping in. Emily wasn’t sure what brought it on. Maybe it was a coping mechanism. Everything seems to lag to Emily and she just felt drained of all energy. She tried to tell herself it was due to the training, but she was beginning to think there was something more to it. Emily got caught up in her thoughts, and almost didn’t notice the knock on the door.

 

She got up and let out a groan; everything seemed to be aching. Emily wasn’t particularly in the mood for guests, but the thought was quickly brought to an end when she saw Kelley.

 

“I? What?” Emily stuttered.

 

Kelley beamed. “Surprise! I hope it’s okay. They were booking our flights back and then at the last minute I changed my flight from Newark to Portland. I just really wanted to see you. I realize now this seems a bit rash. Oh crap, what if you didn’t want to…” Kelley rambled until she felt Emily’s lips on her own.

 

“Thank you.” Emily smiled into their kiss. “I needed this more than you know.”

 

Emily knew Kelley must have been jetlagged. So, they grabbed coffee from a local store ten minutes from Emily’s apartment. The remainder of the afternoon, they spent time cuddled up on the couch as they binge watched Netflix. Kelley felt so at home with Emily, but as the looked up at Emily, there was something in her eyes. It was like the life in them was more muted than it had before.

 

“What’s been bothering you?” Kelley had her head rested on Emily’s lap.

 

Emily paused. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about it. With a sigh, Emily decided. “I just don’t feel like myself.” Emily nearly whispered.

 

Kelley pushed herself up and moved to grab Emily’s hand and laced their fingers together.

 

“How so?” Kelley asked.

 

“Things just haven’t been going well. Maybe I’m just being dramatic because everyone struggles with the transition from college to the real world. But my soccer has really begun to suffer. We’re less than a month into the season and I can’t keep my playing together.” Emily took a second and then decided to tell Kelley everything.

 

“I’ve been feeling numb.” Emily stated.

 

Worry crossed Kelley’s face. “In what way?”

 

“It comes in waves. There are moments when I feel completely normal. I can laugh along with jokes and make others laugh, but then it’s like I hit a limit. My body just suddenly drains of emotions and I become numb to everything around me. When I’m not in the numb moments, I try not to think or address them. Because maybe if I address the feelings, the normal moments will go away completely.” A small tear escaped Emily’s eye.

 

Kelley’s heart felt like it broke in two, “Oh Em, how long has this been going on?”

 

“About two months; it’s been getting worse.” Emily’s voice was small.

 

Kelley paused to think of the right thing to say. She decided to be both supportive and honest. “I’m not a doctor or anything, but it seems like you might be depressed. Obviously, I’m here to help you through it, but do you want to get some sort of treatment?”

 

Emily paused. “No.” Kelley inwardly grimaced before Emily continued, “But I feel like I need to.”

 

“Okay! Well that’s a step in the right direction. You’re playing might just be off because of all of this. Or it would be fueling this. I don’t know. Sorry, I’m not a doctor.” Kelley stopped herself, she just wanted to take Emily’s pain away.

 

“Yeah, I guess.” Emily felt exposed for the inner secrets she had just released. The numb feeling began to overtake her.

 

“It’ll be okay.” Kelley gave Emily a reassuring smile. Despite the happy and joking demeanor Kelley constantly portrayed to her friends and teammate, Emily knew her. She knew that Kelley actually had a wide range of emotions and battled depression and anxiety.

 

An unknown anger surged in Emily at Kelley’s reassurance, she removed her hand from Kelley’s. “Can you just not be so absurdly optimist for a second?” Emily snipped.

 

Kelley’s eyes flashed dark before she calmly responded, “You know that I can be realistic, and I wouldn’t use fake optimism with you.” She took a deep breath because she knew Emily’s emotions were all over the place. The fact that she opened up about personal and deep feelings left her exposed and Kelley knew it was best to tread lightly.

 

“Fine. Then stop being so level headed.” Emily said.

 

Kelley pinched her fingers together, an attempt she used when she felt like she was losing her cool. Even though she knew she needed to be supportive, the fact that Emily’s emotions changed so quickly left her in shock.

 

“You’re giving me whiplash with your emotions,” Kelley said, but quickly bit her lip, knowing immediately that it was the wrong thing to say.

 

“You don’t get it!” Emily nearly shouted.

 

“Get what? That you’re giving up?” Kelley snapped back, her resolve crumbling.

 

“I’m at my wits end. No matter how hard I try, my game is off. Then I get stressed about my poor playing and it just all spirals from there. Even when I think I’m coping with it, all it takes is one little thing to throw me back down. I don’t feel stable. Every day I go to practice already stressing about the fact that I shouldn’t be there. I am constantly trying to prove myself and this isn’t like college where I had a chance to back out. This is my career! You just couldn’t get it. This all comes so easily to you! Have you ever had to work that hard to be amazing at soccer? No, because you have natural talent.” Kelley flinched at Emily’s statement but let her continue.

 

“I don’t even know if I love the game anymore.” Emily face scrunched into anger although she wasn’t even sure what she was mad about.

 

Kelley flung both arms into the air, “Don’t give up. It’s a few months of a soccer rut! You can get help and then it’ll pass. In the meantime, you just have to find the small things in your life that make you feel happy. Those will lead you back to the love of the game. Even if they don’t, you have other things going for you!” Kelley prayed that Emily would realize she had her through it all.

 

“As you said, you’re not a doctor! And it’s not that simple!” Emily said angrily.

 

Kelley shook her head in exasperation, “Well Em, it’s also not as hard as you are making it.”

 

“I mean, I have to ask myself all the time if this is even what I want!” Emily’s yell echoed through the apartment.

 

Kelley wiped a tear from her eye, “You don’t know if soccer is what you want or me? Or is it both?”

 

A dead silence hung over them and the tension could be cut with a knife. For the first time in her life, Emily finally understood what it meant to be speechless. She had always thought that it was a figure of speech. How could anyone not have a single thought running through their head? But here Emily stood, her brain not thinking of anything to say.

 

“I…umm.” Emily paused as the tear fell down her own cheek.

 

“I think your lack of answer speaks volumes. Funny how your first two word you ever spoke to me are also your last.” Kelley bit her bottom lip and begged the tears to not fall until she gathered her stuff.

 

Kelley went to grab her jacket and bag. Emily wasn’t sure what was going on with her body. She just stood there without moving or speaking, completely in shock. _Tell her not to leave_ Emily’s thoughts begged her mouth to utter. _If she walks out that door, you_ _’_ _ll have let the most amazing thing leave forever._ But still, Emily stood there with her mouth slightly agape.

 

Kelley placed her hand on the door knob and stopped to turn around. “I don’t understand but I do. You have things to sort out. As much as I’d love to say, I won’t be waiting when you’ve got them sorted, you’ll probably always have my heart.” She let out a sharp sarcastic laugh to herself, opened the door, and let it close behind her.

 

The wall that now separated Kelley and Emily became a crutch. Kelley sunk down along the wall and let the tears overcome her. Part of her, she knew, waited there for a minute to see if Emily would rush out the door after her. But once the minute passed, Kelley got up, grabbed her bag, and made her way to the elevator. It became clear Emily wouldn’t walk through the door.

 

They were over.


	27. We Bought A Zoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two months have passed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, I have a chapter for you! Funny enough, I wrote most of this chapter 5 months ago!
> 
> Anyway, I have am trying to figure the logistics out for the last four chapters so I'm gonna post sometime next week. In the meantime, I'm gonna work on some one shot requests!
> 
> P.S Sky Blue Motto for the game tomorrow. "Win or lose. We still booze." If any of you are going to the game tomorrow and are old enough, you should come to the beer garden. I'll be happily intoxicated in there :)

 

 

“Care to explain why my cousin abruptly hung up on Facetime when I asked if she wanted to say ‘hi’ to you really quickly?” Sam had just left her bedroom and cautiously approached the couch Emily sat on.

 

Emily’s eye grew wide and her face paled. “I…um…” The tears started falling before Emily could stop them. She had tried so hard to hide it from Sam and she wasn’t even sure why. Two months had passed but Sam was always so busy with classes and research, it never seemed like the right time to tell her. That was a lie, Emily thought. She didn’t want to tell Sam because it would suddenly become very, very real. It was enough to get a cold shoulder from Allie Long but another to have a best friend choose between her and her family.

 

Sam’s heart dropped. She obviously knew something had been up with Emily. She saw an appointment card for a psychologist in the trash last week but had hoped Emily would bring things up when she was ready. The appointment card, the reaction from Kelley, and now the crying confirmed several things for Sam. Kelley and Emily were either in a big fight or broken up. On top of that, Emily had been doing a pretty good job of pretending her mental health problems eased up.

 

Within a second, Sam was on the couch next to Emily. She put her arm around her best friend and let her cry into her lap. After a half hour or so, Emily pulled herself up from Sam’s lap and reached for the tissues on the coffee table.

 

Sam’s face was covered in worry, “When did it happen?”

 

“April.” Emily removed all emotion from the simple word despite the fact her insides felt like they were shredded.

 

“April?!” Sam’s voice went up an octave in surprise. She took a deep breath to settle herself.  “I’m sorry for my surprise but it’s the end of June. And on top of that, I literally saw you hug and say ‘good game’ to each other two weeks ago.”

 

Emily flinched at the memory. “It was for show and then once everyone left the locker room after the match, I cried for over an hour.”

 

A realization hit Sam, “So that’s why you both had some brilliant excuse why you couldn’t grab dinner with me after the game. I just thought Kelley’s team was doing some team bonding stuff after the loss and I thought you were in the trainers.”

 

Emily blew her nose again, she hated to cry. “It was my fault. I let her walk out the door.”

 

“What?” Sam’s eyebrows flew up in surprise.

 

“My mental health has been iffy so I’ve been seeing a psychologist that specializes in depression but also sports. But before I sought treatment, I kind of snapped on Kelley. It was pretty much right after you saw me have that panic attack. It must have been some sort of self-destructive coping mechanism. Like if all the other stuff isn’t going well in my life, I don’t deserve the things that make me happy. So I let her walk out the door because she deserves to be with the best person and at the time I was just going to hold her down.” A tear escaped Emily’s right eye.

 

“You never think the last time’s going to be the last time - you think there will be more. You think you have forever, but you don’t.” Sam sighed after her statement.

 

The tiniest bit of a smile played on Emily’s lips. “Did you just quote Meredith Grey?”

 

“I can neither confirm or deny that but if any producers of ABC come asking, then yes. I one hundred percent stole that.” Sam closed her eyes and gave a small nod.

 

Emily wanted to laugh so badly at her friend but everything felt muted on the inside. “I fucked up.”

 

“She is my cousin but you are also my best friend. But as a completely objective third party person with no particular feelings about the situation, I’d say yes.” Sam gave a small, slightly sad smile. “And that was the last movie and TV quote, I promise. You just love She’s the Man so I thought it might help.”

 

The left side of Emily’s mouth twitched up for a millisecond and if Sam didn’t know any better, she would have thought it was a smile.

 

“Fuck.” Emily threw her head back on the couch and drew out the curse.

 

A mild vibrate caught Emily’s attention. Sam was closer to Emily’s phone and reached for it.

 

“Double fuck, actually.” Sam spun the phone around so Emily could see the name on the screen. _Alex Morgan._

 

Sam’s face actually showed some fear. “Dude, you awoke a lion. Are you going to answer?”

 

All of the color drained from Emily’s face, her throat dried up, and she had the sudden urge to run towards the door. Instead she clenched her fist, nodded her head, and grabbed the phone from Sam’s hand.

 

Sam stood and began backing away from the couch, “Yeah…I’ll go to my room for the conversation.”

 

Right before the phone was about to send Alex to voicemail, Emily picked up the phone.

  
_“What the fuck?_ _”_ Alex’s voice rang through the phone immediately.

 

Emily flinched but tried to keep her tone even, “Hello to you too, Alex.” She could either pretend as if Alex has no idea or address the problem as to why Alex was actually calling.

 

_“Cut the fucking shit._ _”_ Emily clenched her eyes shut, Alex was always very direct.

 

“O…okay.” Emily hated herself for stuttering.

 

_“_ _I warned you not to break her heart. Did I not? I told both of you that if you were dumb enough to get into a relationship, it better fucking work. Was that not what I said?_ _”_ Alex’s raspy voice was still coming through the phone at a high volume.

 

“You did but it’s also not your relationship, not your heart getting broken.” Emily wasn’t just talking about Kelley’s broken heart like Alex referenced.

 

Alex let out a sharp laugh. _“Don_ _’t play that with me. You_ _’ve been together for like a year and then you suddenly break up with her after your first serious fight! Not even just that, you do it after she takes time out of her schedule to fly to Portland to see you! That_ _’s was an asinine thing to do._ _”_

If Emily wasn’t already feeling like she swallowed ten bricks, she did now. It was one thing to live through it but another to have it said back to you. She felt like she was going to throw up. “When did she tell you?”

 

_“Oh, this is one of the best parts. Just now._ _”_

 

“What?” Emily was all around confused. She was sure that Alex would have been one of the first people to find out after the break up.

 

_“She realized Sam had figured it out after some phone call they just had. I don’t really know all the details because she was crying on the phone so her words were kind of jumbled.”_ Alex continued to talk with anger laced in her words. _“Then she decided if Sam found out, she might as well continue to rip the band aide off and tell me_ _. So that was just fantastic._ _”_ Alex bit sarcastically.

 

“But I don’t understand, why didn’t she tell you?” Emily asked.

 

_“There_ _’s the other_ _‘best part._ _’ She waited so long to tell anyone in hopes you guys would work it out. Kelley didn_ _’t want me flying across the country to kick your sorry ass as a way to protect you. After the two months of hell she endured because of you, she still loves you._ _”_

 

The words caught in Emily’s throat. It only took seconds after Kelley left to realize she let the best thing walk out of her life but she assumed she was doing Kelley a favor. She just thought she was an unnecessary anchor in Kelley’s life. And she stilled loved Emily. Emily felt a panic attack coming on.

 

She took three deep yoga breathes before she answers, “I honestly thought she was going to be better off without me.”

 

Alex’s voice eased up, _“I believe that you believe that. But you guys worked, like actually worked. You seemed to balance each other out but somehow enable each other_ _’s absurd behaviors._ _”_ Alex paused. _“Hey, I_ _’m not saying get back together with her. But if you have come to realize you made a major mistake, your window for fixing this is closing. Get your shit figured out and chose to act or watch her move on._ _”_

 

Tears welled in Emily’s eyes, “I know, you’re right. I love her so much.” The words slipped out before Emily could retract them.

 

_“I know you do. Now the balls in your court. Hang in there._ _”_ Alex’s voice actually sounded like she was trying to comfort Emily.

 

Emily nodded in response to Alex but quickly realized that Alex wouldn’t see. “Of course.”

 

_“Alright, I need to walk my dog now but it seems like my job is done._ _”_

 

“Bye.” Emily said into the phone and pressed the end button following Alex’s farewell.

 

Shortly after Emily finished her conversation with Alex, Sam walked past her and headed towards the door. As Sam walked by the couch, she shot a quick glance at Emily.

 

“So how’d the conversation go?” Sam asked as she paused next to the couch.

 

“Just extra reassurance that I screwed up.” Emily fell back onto the couch and covered her face with her hand.

 

Sam sighed and leaned her hip against the back of the couch. “Yeah, I remember when Kelley lived with Alex. Alex would do anything to protect Kel. They were like a married couple well except for that fact they weren’t actually together.”

 

Sam rushed to finish her thought when Emily shot her a confused look.

 

“Oh don’t worry. They didn’t date or hook up or anything. Those two are best friend that would totally not function in a relationship together. Just like us!” Sam laughed at herself. “Plus Alex is straight.”

 

Sam picked up her backpack that laid on the side of the couch. “Well straight for the most part.” Sam gave her a wink and Emily whipped her head to the side quickly to look at Sam in confusion. There was obviously a story there.

 

Sam walked to the door, just as she was about to open the door, she turned around. “But eventually you’ll need to decide what you want. Then all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” Sam’s face was completely serious.

 

Emily was blown away by Sam’s statement before it dawned on her.

 

“We Bought a Zoo?” Emily asked.

 

“Okay, that was the last one.” Sam winked and left out the door to go do research in her office. Despite the absolute dread that filled her, Emily was able to let out a small laugh.


	28. Oh, shit!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily and Sam make a trip up to Seattle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I meant to post this like three hours ago but I was napping...it was a great nap for anyone who cared. Anyway! 
> 
> If you guys are confused about the title of this chapter, you might get it a little more at the end...
> 
> There will be three more chapters left to Just Peachy which is kind of crazy to me. I will post a one shot on tumblr tomorrow (I just have to actually begin writing it). 
> 
> AND! At the end of this story, I have a secret I want to tell you guys. I hope you'll like it.

 

 

Sam and Emily wondered down the street in Seattle. About a month had passed since Sam and Alex found out. Which meant that was an entire month in which Emily panicked about all the ways Kelley could shoot her down when she apologized.

 

“So you mean to tell me we’re casually having a weekend getaway in Seattle only to watch the US women’s team play Australia and to hike? No other motives?”

 

Emily bit her lip. “Er…yes?”

 

“Er, try again.” Sam mocked her.

 

“Okay, I actually did want to see my friends but…” Emily dragged out the last word and hoped Sam wouldn’t actually make her say it out loud.

 

Sam let out a loud sigh, “So what you really meant was when you asked me to come up to Seattle was ‘Sam pretty please come up with me to Seattle so I can beg to get Kelley back without seeming too creepy because she has been here for a week and this was a way better excuse than watching a reign-sky blue game last weekend.’”

 

“Sam, you might want to work on your run on sentences.” This earned Emily a pointed look from Sam.

 

Sam stopped, out of breath. She placed her hands on knees and leaned over. “Fuck these hills. I know I’m a runner and I can legit run 7 miles uphill but for some reason walking them makes it so much worse.” Sam straightened her back and looked at Emily as she remembered what they were talking about.

 

“And Right, let’s not admit the obvious. It is just a coincidence that I’m walking with you now so you can apologize to Kelley.” Sam had thrown her hands up from an extra dramatic flair. They continued their walk up the street.

 

“Yes, totally not related to my main motive…” Emily looked everywhere but Sam’s eyes.

 

Just as they rounded the corner, Sam abruptly stopped walking and shook her head vigorously. “Nope, Em. You can’t do this now.” Sam grabbed Emily’s hand to stop her.

 

Emily stopped and looked in the direction of Sam’s gaze. Kelley was in front of a restaurant and looked down at her phone, clearly focused on something. _Well_ , Emily thought, _I was on my way to see her so I guess now is as good a time as any._ She glanced over at Sam again, scrunched her eyebrows in confusion at her sentence.

 

“Sam, I have to do this now! I don’t think I’ll ever get the courage to say this again. I need to win her back.” Emily said and pulled her hand out of Sam’s strong hold. She marched towards the restaurant entrance where she saw Kelley stand. Sam stayed and hovered by the corner. She looked panicked and unsure of what to do.

 

Emily got Kelley’s attention without much effort. Almost as if Kelley had sensed her presence, she turned and saw Emily. She’d could have lied and said her heart hadn’t fluttered at the slight of Emily approaching but that would have been a blatant lie. As if she remembered everything suddenly, Kelley’s heart began to ache and then pick up again as she looked around at the potential situation that could unfold.

 

“Hey.” Emily said and attempted to make eye contact with Kelley.

 

“Hi.” Kelley said as she did her best to keep her cool. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Well I was actually on the way to your hotel but saw you here and thought this was as good a time as any to talk.” Emily shrugged her shoulders and kicked a small pebble on the sidewalk.

 

Kelley quickly looked around at their setting, the street was relatively deserted except for a few individuals that milled around as they window shopped.

 

“But I mean what are you doing here?” She raised her hands and gestured towards the buildings of Seattle.

 

Emily’s face flushed. “I…well… to see the team?” If this was a different time and a different situation, Kelley would have made a joke at Emily’s response. But now was not the time, Kelley thought, this was not the place. The girl in front of her was no longer hers, Kelley could feel her throat start to tighten. It had become hard to swallow.

 

“I don’t think now is a good time…” Kelley paled. She wasn’t sure if this was the official, ‘I hope we can still be friends talk’ and she most definitely did not want to have this now.

 

“Please.” Emily begged. “I just have to say this before I lose the courage.”

 

Kelley looked behind her quickly at the two people who looked vaguely familiar to Emily before she nodded for Emily to continue.

 

Emily inhaled deeply to calm her nerves before she began. “I was an idiot.” Emily froze. She got distracted by Kelley when she bit her bottom lip. _Crap, what was I going to say? Oh my god, use words!_ Emily thought and pleaded for her brain to remember the speech she had practiced. She remembered back to when they first met and Emily struggled to form sentences around Kelley. How had she come full circle in the worst way possible?

 

“Okay, I’m glad you’re stating the obvious but I assumed there’d be more than that.” Kelley tried to bite back a smile.

 

Emily let out a small laugh, “Right. I had words. Really good ones.” Emily nodded her head vigorously.

 

A small smiled played at Kelley’s lips. “Which are…?”

 

A few of the people around seemed to have noticed their exchange which only caused Emily’s hands to calm up more. “I was an idiot. I wasn’t in the right head space. Okay, I really shouldn’t down play it, I was depressed and struggling with panic attacks. Everything seemed to be going wrong, soccer in particular. I was watching the dream I imagined for myself since I was eight, slip away. I couldn’t seem to control anything so I decided to cope by making myself numb. Everything was muted and I felt like I was just trying to make it day to day. Then there was you, the only thing that made me smile.” A sad smile took form on Kelley’s face.  “But I made a split second, horrible decision by pushing you out of my life. I figured if everything is my life was going to shit, I couldn’t pull you down with me. When I let you leave, I was pretty sure I’d never feel happiness again which scared me like no other.”

 

Kelley looked at Emily as water built up in her eyes at Emily’s words.

 

Emily continued. “But that’s when I realized that’s not really healthy. I mean, duh. Of course that’s not healthy. I went to talk to someone and they helped me get my shit together and I talked to my coach. We made a plan and it seemed like I had a grip on everything but I was just okay. But I had realized that when someone asked me what made me happy, I could only answer one thing, you. Which is great and all but I had lost myself as an individual and almost had too much riding on our relationship. Then I realized I could be okay as an individual while accepting that being with you made this better. I could start to joke again but I never felt light. I could laugh at jokes but I never really felt happy. Then Alex and Sam gave me some words of wisdom.”

 

Kelley’s eyebrows had shot up quizzically. “Well Sam mainly quoted movies and Alex pretty much yelled at me and told me I was being a little shit.” Kelley laughed at Emily’s words but had grown quiet again to let her finish.

 

“So I realized what I really knew all along. The minute I watched you walk about the door, I realized that was the reason I couldn’t seem to become truly happy again, just okay. I mean you were the reason. Well I mean not having you was the reason.” Emily rambled and rubbed her hand along the back of her neck as a nervous response. “When I saw a really cute dog, I’d think about how excited you’d get if you saw it too. When I got an uncalled for yellow card and wanted to vent, I immediately want to call you. When I found an awesome song, I wanted to send it to you. I mean you can kind of get the point here. But I realized everything feels muted when you’re not around. You make everything better just by being associated with it. You make me better. I know you might never want to really talk to me again but I just wanted you to know that I’m so incredibly sorry for the pain I’ve caused you. I want to be with you every day even if I’m on an entirely different coast. Even if it is just as a friend. But I’d hope for more because I love you.” Emily’s heart pounded hard in her chest. She could feel her hands shake and tried to control her breathing.

 

Kelley just stood there with her mouth slightly agape. “Wow. That was a lot.”

 

Just as Kelley was about to respond with more, Emily’s eyes grew wide and Kelley stopped. Emily saw Erin, Kelley’s sister, walk out of the restaurant doors behind Kelley and talk to the two adults that seemed to witness the whole exchange. The three walked to stand near Kelley. As if she sensed them, Kelley glanced over her shoulder. When she turned around her cheeks flushed a shade Emily was sure hers mirrored.

 

“Em, these are my parents. And you’ve met my sister.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, giving me a kudos would be the bomb.com! Comments are welcome
> 
> Also feel free to follow my blog on Tumblr... username: heathbar17


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